Death Note v 20
by Kwest82
Summary: This is the continuation of Opposites during the DN timeline. I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Sakura and Asya exited the plane after their fifteen hour journey. The first thing Sakura did was to turn her phone on. She went through the security codes that Matt had set up on it and as soon as the phone gained signal there was a message.

_12 FBI sent to JP on 14. M2._

Sakura turned the phone so that Asya could see the text message Matt had sent. She nodded after reading it curious as to L's motivation for bringing in FBI agents when he had told the NPA he would be working solely with them, but that would make sense if he were in fact investigating the NPA. This wasn't the place to mull over the case though. They had to keep in character unsure of who might be watching. Neither of the girls were recognizable as themselves but they didn't want to take any chances.

Sakura's once long black hair was now cut short in an angled bob and her hair was dyed with blond and red highlights, she wore gray contacts and gone were the t-shirt and jeans outfits she usually wore, these were replaced by slacks, sweaters, dress shirts and skirts in her new college student wardrobe.

For Asya her short hair was lengthened with a weave that had light brown highlights running through it and she donned green contacts. Her usual black outfits were replaced with more playful pastel dresses and skirts.

They walked down to the baggage claim cheerfully chatting but quickly running out of steam. Sakura spotted a coffee vending machine and walked over getting them a couple cans of coffee. She knew they would need it. They had to get all their things unpacked and begin their work on the case. The last update she had read Kira was now killing criminals by the hour.

Sakura and Asya walked out of the airport and caught a cab to their new apartment. They chatted a bit with the driver about how "excited" they were to get to attend the premier To-Oh University together. The driver politely engaged them saying how nice it was that they got to travel together and go to school together. They got to the apartment building and the driver helped get their luggage out of the trunk and Sakura paid him and thanked him for the ride.

"Well, here we are Amanda!" Sakura said.

"I'm starving Haruko! After we put our stuff up we should go grocery shopping," Asya replied. Sakura nodded in reply, it would be good to stock up on necessities. They walked into the apartment and into the manager's office. An elderly gentleman greeted them cheerfully.

"You must be Haruko and Amanda, it is so nice to meet you," he said with a bow.

"We really appreciate you looking after us while we are here," Sakura replied bowing as well.

"You two will be in apartment 107 just down the hall here. I'll take you," he said as he grabbed the keys from a drawer. He led them a few doors down the hall and unlocked the door. "Here you are, if you need anything at all, please let me know," he told them as he flipped on the light and handed them each a key to the room. They both thanked him a few more times and then they all said their goodnights.

"This is pretty nice, he said it would be furnished but I had no idea he had such good taste," Sakura said speaking of Matt.

"Actually his other half picked out the furniture," Asya replied as she looked at the black leather couch under the window.

"Hmm, I should have known," Sakura said with a laugh as her eyes set upon the couch. "Well let's get our stuff set up." They began pulling their laptops out of their bags and setting them on the coffee table. Then they put all their clothing away in the closet in the hall. "Which bed do you want?" Sakura asked looking at the two futons in the bedroom.

"Either one, not like we'll sleep enough for it to matter," she replied. They both knew it would be more likely that they would doze off on the couch while they worked. After getting everything set they both checked their emails. Nothing earth-shattering had come in so they decided to do their food shopping.

They walked down to a 7-11 and picked up some yakisoba-pan, ramen, miso and other food along with lots of coffee. Then they went back to the apartment and settled in for a night of investigation.

"Ok, so what do we know so far?" Sakura said as she brought over couple cups of coffee and sandwiches for them.

"Well at first it seemed like Kira was killing around some sort of schedule. Then he started killing every hour, as if to prove that theory wrong. Which L in turn deduced a couple things from, one that the killer can control the time of death and two that police information is being leaked to Kira," Asya replied pulling up the data on her laptop.

"And now L has enlisted 12 FBI agents to do some leg work. Did we get an update on who the people are that they are following?" Sakura asked as she started to check through the latest information on her laptop.

"The file here has what seems like a list of NPA officers and their families. There are one hundred and forty one people though. We really need to narrow it down if we're going to do our own search," Asya told her.

"Well then we need to go through those files. If we each take half then we should have it paired down fairly well in the next couple days," Sakura said as she opened the same file on her computer. "So you take A-M and I go for N-Z." Asya nodded and began looking over those files and Sakura did the same. It felt odd to Sakura not having the paper file in her hand as she scrolled through the information on her laptop.

The two stayed up the entire night taking turns getting drinks or snacks to keep themselves awake. They were surprised by their own pace as by mid-morning the next day they had gone through all on hundred and forty one files.

"Alright, anything jumping out at you on the profiles you looked at?" Sakura asked.

"Well, Kitamura has potential. They have a child who is a student of about the right age that L was suggesting in his notes," Asya said.

"Good, I've got the same with the Yagami family," Sakura told her.

"Where do we start then? I mean not only are we going to have to go unnoticed by the NPA but the Feds as well," Asya started and noticed that Sakura was smiling. "Oh no, you don't really want to contact them do you?"

"Not yet, but we will follow them. I mean come on, we're students so we should hang out in the same places, right? And, I was looking further into the Yagami boy's profile and it seems luck is on our side. He has applied for To-Oh University so we'll be able to keep a close watch on him if need be," Sakura said.

"Don't get too far ahead, for all we know he's just an innocent kid," Asya told her.

"Okay, so let's start with the Yagami boy later today," Sakura said with a yawn the eighteenth had quickly turned into the nineteenth.

***

Light Yagami had just finished his cram school session and was walking out with the shinigami Ryuk. "Light, I need to tell you something," Ryuk said as he floated just behind Light and kept slightly glancing behind them.

"Ryuk, how many times do I have to tell you not to talk to me in public," Light whispered in an annoyed tone.

"I have to tell you. I don't hate you, in some ways I think you are the perfect owner for the Death Note. That said, I am not on your or L's side," Ryuk told him as they continued down the street.

"I already knew that, do you have a point?" Light whispered wondering what the shinigami was on about now.

"What I'm saying isn't for Kira. It's just that it gives me the creeps. For the past two days, you've been being followed," Ryuk said. "Even if the guy can't see me, I feel like I'm being watched. It's really annoying."

_If this guy has been watching me the past couple days all he will see is a hard working serious student. They've got nothing on me, _Light thought to himself as they continued walking. They got to the house and Light announced himself saying he was going up to his room to study a bit more. He was lost in thought about the man following him. He couldn't be NPA if he was investigating the NPA. It would be so much simpler if he knew the man's name. But if he killed him too soon it would point directly at him. He needed a plan.

"Hey Light, do you know the difference between a shinigami and a human?" Ryuk asked randomly.

"You're awfully talkative tonight Ryuk," Light said with a laugh.

"You see a shinigami can use a human's life span," Ryuk started and a look of confusion made its way to Light's face.

"Use their life span?" Light echoed curiously.

"Let's say for instance you have a person who is supposed to live until they are seventy but you write their name down when they are forty. As a shinigami you get those thirty years added to you own life. So as long as a shinigami keeps writing names he can't be killed even if you tried to shoot or stab him. But the human world is really just a means to an end to shinigami, we don't hate humans or want to make this world a better place. We just kill humans so we can live. But the fact that we're merely existing for the sake of existence has made the shinigami realm seem like it's rotting, it's meaningless…" Ryuk said.

"That's ridiculous!" Light said with a laugh. "If a shinigami like you came around once every few hundred years or so and the human world changes so much in that time then surely you have a meaningful existence. You can use what you learn here and apply it in your world," Light told him.

"I didn't know you were such an optimistic guy Light," Ryuk replied in a thoughtful sort of tone.

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have thought to improve my own world," Light said matter-of-factly.

"Anyhow, your life span isn't extended by those you kill using the death note, that is the first difference," Ryuk told him.

"This is very interesting," Light said now curious about what else Ryuk had to say.

"The next part is what you'll really think is interesting…" Ryuk started with a grin. "Shinigami can simply look into the human world and write down names. We usually just pick people at random. But the question is, how can we know their names by just looking at them?" Ryuk said gloatingly as he drew closer. Light backed into his chair slightly as Ryuk stared into his eyes. "It's the eyes of the Shinigami. We can look at a person's face and see their name and life span."

"Name and life span?" Light echoed.

"Precisely, so we can look at any person and write their name. Our eyes are the true difference," Ryuk said still smirking. "But, when a human takes ownership of a death note they can make a deal to get the eyes of a shinigami."

"Trade?" Light questioned.

"The price for the eyes…" Ryuk said pausing for his own amusement as he watch Light's expression. "Is half the human's life span!"

"Half their life span?" Light echoed.

"Yes, so if you had ten years you would have five and so on and so forth," Ryuk said his smile becoming wider. "I can see your life span Light, but since I'm not on anyone's side I wouldn't tell you."

"And you wouldn't tell me the name of a person I want to kill," Light pondered.

"Right, that's another rule of shinigami," Ryuk replied. "Just half your life span and you could know anyone's name and life span."

"The eyes would be helpful… But.." Light paused a moment. "This deal, is out of the question. If I want to create the perfect world and be the God of this new world I intend to live a long time to oversee it. The idea of shortening my life span is just ridiculous, you should know that Ryuk." To which the shinigami simply shrugged and nodded.

"I just wanted to tell you before it's too late so that I don't hear any complain later on about why didn't I tell you," Ryuk told him.

"Too late? Then why didn't you tell me when we first met? You should already know it's 'too late' for that," Light said to him as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah…" Ryuk replied.

"So, is there anything else I should know that you haven't told me about the death note?" Light asked.

"No," Ryuk responded. _Not that I can think of.._ Ryuk thought to himself.

"That's too bad. If it was wings rather than eyes I might have considered it. Flying freely through the sky, now that is Godly," Light said.

"But if you had wings everybody would see you and you'd get caught," Ryuk told him.

"I was kidding Ryuk…" Light said in an annoyed tone. He picked up his death note looking through it. "I've figured it out! It's in the rules written here! I know how I can get the name of that guy who's been following me!" Light announced excitedly. "Tomorrow is Saturday, it will be perfect.."

"What is your plan?" Ryuk asked curiously.

"Well, it's right in the death note. 'If you write the reason of death you have an additional six minutes and forty seconds to write the specific details'. First I'll need to test how specific the details can be," Light told him pausing and changing his course of thought. "If the guy that's following me thinks I'm innocent then it would give me time. But if they went to investigate me again they'd be more thorough it would probably be too late if I waited." Light began to write feverishly in the note book testing it's abilities.

***

Soichiro Yagami sat at his desk at the NPA head quarters. His phone rang and he quickly picked it up. "Six more deaths? All heart attacks, that's definitely Kira," he said to the person on the other end. "Three acted strangely before their deaths? What do you mean?!" Soichiro's voice rose at the words he heard. He began typing in the details on his computer. "Alright one wrote a note, the other drew a picture and the other escape only to die in a restroom?..." _What the hell is going on here? _He thought to himself.

Watari had been listening in the background and got on the phone to L.

"Watari what's wrong?" L asked.

"It seems there have been more victims, but three died in odd manners," Watari started.

"What do you mean?" L asked.

"I'll send you the images," Watari said and began sending the files to him.

L began downloading the images. He looked over them pondering to himself. _This could simply be the act of the criminal out of fear… But if Kira can control the time of death, what is to say he cannot control the victim's actions as well…_

Suddenly the old English letter L appeared on Soichiro's computer. "Chief!" L started to get his attention. "Please do not release anything other than the victims died of heart attacks. I believe that Kira is conducting a test. It's possible we're feeding him his results through the media."

"That's sick!" Soichiro yelled infuriated at the idea of Kira toying with people's lives in such a manner.

***

"Ryuk, look at this, the results are already in on my dad's computer. They all did just what I expected. It seems I can use the death note this way after all," Light mused as he checked over the new data.

"What happened?" Ryuk asked. Light began outlining how he had three prisoners do specific actions before they died. Then he told him about three that he had made unreasonable situations for such as a prisoner in Japan dying in Paris and making a drawing of L's face. "Oh, I get it."

"So there for, if the actions are within reason then I can make the person do whatever I want them to!" Light exclaimed giddily. "The next test decides everything. The police will be too busy trying to figure out the useless riddle. Tomorrow morning's paper will be the real confirmation."

Light woke early in the morning much to his mother's surprise. "I figured I would go out today." He told her as he sat for breakfast. He ate quickly and grabbed the news paper. He went back up to his room locking the door behind him. "And the results…" He looked over the paper headline and story with amazement. "This is perfect! I never would have imagined that it would work in such detail!" With the test confirmed be began excitedly writing the day's events in the death note. "Alright, now to makes some calls."

"Calls?" Ryuk echoed in a confused tone.

"Yes, I'm actually pretty popular with the ladies," Light responded with a confident smirk. He picked up his cell phone and dialed a girl from school setting up a date to go to the Space Land amusement park.

"An amusement park?" Ryuk asked after Light ended the phone call. Light began to get ready and they headed out toward the bus stop.

"Of course, my follower would never be suspicious of me going on a date," Light replied.

"So this is all about getting the guy's name isn't it?" Ryuk asked slyly.

"Didn't you read what I wrote?" Light asked.

"Nope, then it would be boring," Ryuk replied.

"Well then you'll just have to sit back and watch…" Light told him.


	2. Chapter 2

**December 20, 2003**

Asya had fallen asleep after she and Sakura had spent the entire previous night going over the latest information received about the strange deaths that had occurred. Sakura stayed awake trying to think of an idea on how to get closer to the persons they had narrowed their list to. They had agreed to begin with Light Yagami. Sakura didn't want to wait to begin her surveillance so she quietly got ready and left a note that she would call Asya if something came up.

Sakura had Yagami's address so she walked over to the street they lived on. It was still fairly early so she quietly snuck into the bushes of the neighboring house. She got out her cell phone and set it to search for Light's cell phone signal. She sat waiting and just as she was about to nod off the phone alerted that Light was making a call. Sakura switched the phone setting so she could listen in on the call.

"Hello?" the tire voice of a girl said.

"Hi, Yuri, I know it's early but I was wondering if you're busy today?" a young man's voice asked. Sakura memorized the tone knowing that it was Light's voice.

"Oh, um, no I'm not busy!" the girl's tone became more jovial.

"Great, would you like to go to Spaceland with me?" he asked.

"That sounds great! I've wanted to go there since middle school!" Yuri replied giggling with further excitement.

"I'll meet you at the bus stop at eleven?" Light asked.

"Okay, I'll be there!" she replied happily and the two hung up.

_A date at… Spaceland? Wow, this guy really doesn't get out much. _Sakura thought to herself as she put her phone away. She had a couple hours still before the two were going to meet at the bus stop. This would be plenty of time to get ready and figure out a plan to monitor Light.

Sakura quickly headed back to the apartment. When she arrived she found a very perturbed looking Asya tapping her fingers on the keyboard of her laptop.

"I've got good news," Sakura said with a smirk as she sat next to Asya.

"It better be, I didn't really like waking up to a little note about you gallivanting off by yourself. We're supposed to work together you know," Asya said in a lecturing tone.

"Oh don't worry so much, I found out the Yagami boy is going on a date today. It'll be a good time to observe him," Sakura said.

"On a date? Yeah, that's real inconspicuous…follow him while he's on a date," Asya mocked rolling her eyes.

"You could be a bit more supportive. Besides, they're just going to some cheesy amusement park. We won't really be noticed," Sakura said.

"Fine, but if it gets weird we leave," Asya told her.

"Since when did you suddenly become the authority figure here?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Since I made a promise before we got here. You have to stop being so reckless," Asya said shaking her head.

"Promise? To who? About what?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, a promise, the details are not important. The only thing that is important is that we stick together," Asya told her. Sakura wasn't really satisfied with that answer but decided to leave it alone.

"Fine… So, we need to get ready to go to Spaceland!" Sakura said in a sarcastically excited tone.

"Are you serious?" Asya asked with a highly unenthused glance.

"Yep," Sakura replied with a laugh.

"Great…" Asya groaned as she stood and stretched walking over to the closet and picking out a fresh outfit. She took a quick shower and got dressed. "Should we just go now?"

"I don't see why not, we can get some coffee on the way to waste a little time," Sakura told her as she looked at the clock seeing it was still only ten.

They shut down their laptops store them in a small safe that was hidden behind an air vent in the wall. Matt had really out done himself when he had this apartment set up. Sakura knew she'd never really be able to thank him enough for his help. After looking everything over they were on their way.

The two walked for a while quietly talking about various subjects. When they were almost to the bus stop they went into a small coffee shop getting a couple lattes and some pastries. They sat at a table near the window enjoying their breakfast. Once they finished Sakura looked at the time. Ten thirty, there was still half an hour until they had to catch the bus. She figured it would be better to be early anyways thinking that if they were already there it wouldn't rouse Light's suspicions.

They went out walking down to the bus stop and sat on the bench together. At ten forty five, a very excited looking young woman walked up to the stop and stood looking like she was waiting for someone else. Sakura elbowed Asya slightly glancing at the girl. Time to start the routine, Sakura was hoping to get a bit of background from this girl who was clearly quite enamored with Light.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're going to Spaceland Amanda!" Sakura started.

"Yeah, it's too bad that Shinji couldn't go though," Asya said with a fake frown. Yuri looked over at the two and continued watching for Light.

"Maybe he'll meet us there! I know he's always studying like crazy but maybe he will take a break," Sakura said hoping to bait Yuri into the conversation. Yuri looked over again and couldn't help walking over to the girls.

"Sometimes you just have to be patient. I was really surprised when my boyfriend called for a date. He said he wasn't going to go out until he finished with entrance exams but he called and asked me to Spaceland!" Yuri said giddily.

"See Amanda! Your situation is the same. If her boyfriend is going out maybe Shinji will too. When we get to the park you should call him," Sakura said with a smile.

"Maybe, Haruko but Shinji is really serious about getting in to that University… Sometimes I think he cares about that more than me," Asya said with a sigh.

"Don't be so sad. I bet he'll come around. Just like Light did. Everybody needs a break eventually," Yuri told her with a wink.

"You might be right. Oh hey, is that your boyfriend?" Asya asked seeing a young man walking up. Suddenly it was as if Sakura and Asya didn't exist. Yuri quickly went over to Light gushing about how excited she was to go with him to Spaceland. They watched the conversation between Yuri and Light until Light paused asking Yuri if the two were friends of hers.

"Oh, no we just started talking while we waited for the bus," Yuri said.

"She was just listening to my sob story about my boyfriend," Asya said.

_Women… They're so pathetic, _Light thought to himself. "Well hopefully a day at the amusement park with your friend can cheer you up. Us guys can be a little thick headed sometimes," Light said with a laugh.

"Thanks," Asya said shyly.

***

Ray Penber stood around the corner from the bus stop. He was watching the four interact. _He's obviously a normal, no an excellent student. He's going to an amusement park? Usually when he goes out it's to school or night school. I'm done with this assignment after today. There's no need to investigate the Yagami family, Light's not suspicious at all. _Ray thought to himself. The bus pulled to a halt in front of the four youths and Ray quickly made his way over getting on the bus after Yuri and Light. He took a seat behind them.

Yuri and Light spoke about the university a friend of their wanted to attend. No suspicious activity what so ever. He noted that the two didn't seem to know the other girls well as they didn't include them in the conversation but it wasn't unusual to chat with people randomly while waiting for a bus.

The bus stopped at the next stop on its route to Spaceland. A strung out looking man entered the bus. _It's him! Perfect... _ Light thought to himself.

"I'm hijacking this bus!" the man yelled as he pulled a revolver from his jacket. The confused driver glanced back fear upon his face at the sight of the gun pointed to his head. All the passengers began to scream. "Shut up! If anyone makes a scene I'll kill you all!" he yelled pointing the gun toward the passengers and then moving his attention back to the driver. "You know the number to Spaceland, right?"

"Yeah," the driver replied nervously.

"Call it. Tell them what's going on," the gunman instructed.

"Yes, this is the driver of bus 124… We've, we've been hijacked by a man with a gun," the driver started and the man pulled the phone from his hand.

"He's telling the truth, now listen carefully," the gunman said, his voice edgy. "I want a girl to meet us two stops before Spaceland and bring all of yesterday's money. If you don't cooperate or you call the police I will kill every person on this bus, you hear me!?" not giving the person on the other end a chance to respond he hung up the phone.

Light tapped Yuri's leg showing her a note saying that when the criminal isn't looking he'd jump him. Sakura watched on not saying a word as Ray who sat behind him began to speak quietly telling him not to make such a foolish move. She could tell he was the FBI agent; he had it written all over him, from his mannerisms to his hair cut.

Light scribbled another note and Ray told him the hijacker wouldn't be able to hear them over the noise of the bus so it wouldn't be a problem for them to just talk instead of passing notes. Light crumpled the note and put it into his pocket.

"Sorry, but how do I know you're not his accomplice?" Light whispered.

"Accomplice?" Yuri echoed shutting her eyes tightly. This certainly wasn't the day she hoped for.

"Yeah, these things happen a lot, you think it's just one man but he's got a partner somewhere as back up," Light whispered.

"Alright, here's my proof," Ray said showing his FBI badge. Sakura tried not to let her eyes widen. _Could he be playing into a trap? _She wondered.

"Alright, I don't know why the FBI is here but I'll leave it to you," Light said.

Ray's mind was flood with thoughts wondering why the police thought Kira was in Japan but he had to concentrate on the task at hand, these people's lives were at stake. And the man hijacking the bus looked very familiar. He had been on the news recently, he was a very dangerous man. Ray had to stay sharp.

Light let the scrap of paper he had in his pocket slip to the ground. His plan was going perfectly so far. He bent down to pick it up and the gunman began yelling for him not to move.

"What's that paper?! Passing notes, what are you guys up to?" the man yelled as he picked up the paper. Ray hoped it wasn't the scrap of paper that Light had written his intent to take down the hijacker. He readied himself and had his hand on the gun in his jacket. "Psh, a date note… How boring.. Listen up, don't make any sudden movements, or else!" _Perfect… _Light thought inwardly smiling to himself. "Wha.. What the hell?! What is that thing back there?!" The gunman's face went pale and his eyes widened as he stumbled backwards.

"Are you talking to me?" Ryuk said with amusement.

"Don't screw around! How did you get there?!" the gunman's voice shook with fear at the sight of the shinigami.

"You can see me? How fun," Ryuk said laughing.

"I'm gonna shoot you monster!!" the man yelled.

'He's hallucinating! Everybody get down!!" Ray yelled. Everyone ducked down fear filled the bus hoping this would all be over soon.

"Oh wait, I get it.. The piece of paper Light dropped was a piece of the death note… Then when you picked it up you could see me. Smart," Ryuk said realizing what Light had done.

"D..don't come any closer!!" the gunman yelled as Ryuk walked toward him. Suddenly the man opened fire but the bullets simply went right through Ryuk shattering the rear window of the bus. _That really was a brilliant plan,_ Ryuk thought to himself realizing that this elaborate ruse was all just to get his follower's name.

The hijacker's gun started clicking as he'd ran out of bullet but still attempted to fire. _Good he's out of bullets now, _ Ray thought to himself as he went to charge at the man. But the hijacker quickly ran screaming off the bus. He tripped down the stairs into the street. Screeching tires of an oncoming car could be heard and the final slam as the car hit the hijacker.

_Right on time, the death note worked perfectly, _Light thought to himself as he checked the time. Everyone began exiting the bus and Ray pulled Light aside.

"To tell the truth, I'm here on a secret mission. So…" Ray said pausing.

"Right, I never saw you," Light told him nodding. Ray thanked him saying that things might get weird once the police showed up so he was just going to leave.

_This is perfect, I wouldn't want the police or my father to know I ran into an FBI agent because then L might find out. Today is just going to be filed as a regular incident, _Light thought. He then attempted to get out of his date but Yuri insisted that they still go and that everything was fine.

Sakura and Asya couldn't be caught up with this scene either. Anything the police knew L was certain to know. "Hey, do you mind if we tag along with you?" she asked Light.

"Uh, well I don't see why not," Light replied hesitantly. _Weird, I guess I have more of a way with the ladies than even I thought._

***

Ray got back to the hotel that he and his fiancé Naomi Misora had been staying at. She had been busying herself that morning looking at wedding gowns and other necessities for their upcoming wedding.

"Welcome back Ray!" she said as she put down the magazine she'd been looking at and went to greet him. He took off his jacket with a heavy sigh and sat down in one of the chairs in the room and loosened his tie. "You look really tired, did something happen on the job?"

"I got caught up in some random bus jacking," Ray replied wearily.

"Bus jacking?" Naomi echoed.

"Yeah, a couple days ago the guy hit a bank. This time he went for a bus," Ray told her slouching into the chair further.

"You were on the same bus as him?" Naomi asked.

"Yep, but he ended up jumping off and getting ran over by a car," Ray said. This made Naomi suspicious something about it just didn't seem right.

"Is he dead?" she asked.

"Probably, I figured it wasn't a good idea to stick around but…" Ray started but Naomi interrupted.

"Ray, I wonder if this isn't just a coincidence. I mean you were following someone when you got onto that bus and all the sudden this criminal is probably dead," she began but Ray quickly stopped her.

"Look, you were a great agent, but you're my fiancé now. Not an agent!" he snapped. "You promised, no more cases no more danger."

"Okay, I'm sorry Ray, force of habit," she said as she brought two cups of tea for them and sat down next to him. He then changed the subject to meeting her parents and trying to figure out a way for him to impress her father.

***

Light arrived home and went directly up to his room with Ryuk in tow. "So, are you going to write that guy's name now?" Ryuk asked.

"Nope, probably… Next week. It would be suspicious to kill him so soon. I'll let them keep investigating a little while. Then in a week when I do write his name I'll make sure he gives me all the names of the FBI agents that are here in Japan. But now it's time to give L something to play with," Light said with a smirk.

***

Sakura and Asya got back to the apartment after their long day with Light. The bus jacking was certainly a strange event, but it could have just been a coincidence. Something just nagged at Sakura though. "Is it just me, or was that the weirdest day?" Sakura asked as they got out their laptops.

"Well bus jacking usually aren't associated with normal activity," Asya replied as she took her laptop from Sakura.

"That's not what I mean. I was watching Light and he seemed a little too calm for my taste," Sakura said.

"Well he's the son of an NPA Chief officer. And he's helped out on cases for the department. Of course he's going to calmer than the average teenager," Asya replied.

"So you would be so bold as to ask somebody for proof they're not with the jacker?" Sakura asked.

"You've got a point, why ask if you have even the slightest feeling…" Asya started but drifted into her own mind. _Was it to get him to show is ID? Could Light really be Kira?... But, he's such a smart guy and he seems so straight-laced and his father is with the NPA…_

"Well, I would say that if that FBI agent dies soon, we'll have a better idea," Sakura said.

"Maybe but how can we know it's really him? What if somebody else that really is Kira runs into him and kills him," Asya retorted.

"Maybe we should follow the FBI agent then," Sakura said.

"But there are twelve of them, we can't just follow one and hope that he leads us to Kira," Asya told her.

"Seems we're just going in circles. There are so many possibilities but we can't keep tabs on everyone at the same time. Now I understand why L always has so many people doing the leg work. Speaking of which, I wonder if he's received anything new," Sakura said as she booted up her laptop and they began downloading the latest information for the case.

***

L sat in his room looking over a note written by a criminal recently. "L do you know," he read aloud as he looked at the note turned sideways. Suddenly his computer began to alert an incoming call. "Yes Watari?"

"There's been another victim with a note," Watari said. L told him to send the image. L looked at the image as it downloaded.

"Shinigami? Kira are you trying to tell me shinigami exist?" L pondered. "L do you know, shinigami.." He paused realizing there must be something more coming. "Watari, tell the police to keep their eyes on the prisoners. I think there is going to be another note."

"Understood," Watari replied and hung up.

L sat staring at the images of the notes. _Is he trying to give me a clue… _he wondered as he looked on.


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN:** Sorry this chap is a little short, hope you guys enjoy it!_

**December 24, 2003**

"We haven't gotten any further watching the Yagami boy. Why don't we take a break?" Asya said as the two sat in the apartment going over some files.

"Take a break? Would L take a break? No way, we have to keep going. Maybe we should start looking at the other possible suspect, that Kitamura girl," Sakura said fighting the heaviness of her eyes. She had been running around watching Light for the past few days and was coming up empty handed and more frustrated each day.

"Listen, you're going to burn yourself out. Besides, L is still working the case. So relax alright? At least just for a few days?" Asya asked. Sakura sighed not wanting to give in. She had this gut feeling that Light was Kira or somehow linked to Kira but without any real evidence she couldn't prove it.

"Fine. I suppose it won't hurt to take a couple days off. I doubt there will be anything huge in the next couple days," Sakura replied. Asya smirked a little glad that she was able to keep part of her promise even if in a way she wasn't fully keeping it.

***

_2 Days Before L's Departure to Japan_

"_You wanted to see me?" Asya asked curiously as she walked into a room lit dimly by a computer screen._

"_Thank you for coming. I wish to ask a favor of you," L replied still maintaining his focus on the computer._

"_Well, what is it? I'm not going to blindly agree to something before I know the details," she told him as she crossed her arms waiting. L stood and moved uncomfortably close to her staring into her eyes intently._

"_Promise me that you will protect Sakura for me. If she is assigned a mission you will accompany her. Mind her health; make sure she takes care of herself. Above all, if anything should happen to me, do not let her go after Kira. Can you promise me this?" L said still staring._

"_Ye...yes. Of course. I promise," Asya replied quietly. She would do her best at least. L smiled at her giving an approving sort of nod and then pulled a lollipop from his pocket handing it to her._

"_I appreciate this greatly Asya. I know that you will do your utmost to ensure that she is safe. Thank you, you may go now," L said waving her out with another piece of candy he had just pulled from her pocket._

***

"Uh, earth to Asya?" Sakura said waving her hand in front of the girl who was lost in her memories.

"Sorry about that, what did you say?" Asya asked coming out of her daze.

"Did you want to go to that Okonomiyaki shop tonight for dinner? I figure since we're taking it easy we should enjoy ourselves, a little Christmas treat let's say," Sakura told her. Asya nodded with a smile telling Sakura that it sounded like a good idea. They began to put their things away and prepared to go out when the doorbell rang. "Weird, I wonder who that is…" Sakura walked to the door and saw the landlord through the peep hole. "Hello Mr. Saito!" Sakura said happily after she opened the door.

"Hello, Ms. Yoshida. These packages just arrived for you and Ms. Spencer. Christmas presents it would seem," Mr. Saito said with a smile as he handed the brightly colored boxes to her.

"Thank you so much," Sakura said with a wide grin wondering what it was, she was certain it had been Matt that sent them even though the location where the boxes were from had an address in Germany. They exchanged a few more pleasantries and the landlord left. "Hey, we got presents!" Sakura told Asya as she walked over placing the boxes on the table.

"Do you think we should open them now or wait until tomorrow?" Asya asked holding her jacket in her hand eyeing the brightly wrapped packages.

"I'm not very good at waiting, lets open them now," Sakura said grinning. Asya nodded setting her jacket down on the couch and Sakura handed her the box labeled Amanda Spencer. Asya was carefully opening the box and Sakura simply tore into the wrapping paper quickly opening the box revealing a locket that had a small sapphire in the center. She opened the locket and inside was an SD card, she took it out and picked up her phone place the SD card into the slot and a puzzle appeared after getting through the puzzle there was a message.

_Merry Christmas girls! I know it doesn't seem like much, however if you get jammed up and can't contact anyone press the jewel on your locket and it will send me a signal and we'll send in the cavalry. – Matt._

"Well, at least it's pretty. I doubt we'll ever have to use it though," Asya said having gotten through to the message as well. She looked at her locket which had an onyx stone in the center of it. They both put their lockets on and no sooner Sakura got a text message.

_I see you two don't have much patience… lol – M2._

_How did you know? – S_

_SD rigged to send msg 2 me on open. – M2_

_Thanks, good 2 know we have u lookin out 4 us. – S_

_NP, Merry Christmas. – M2_

"He'd make a scary stalker…" Sakura said with a laugh. Asya nodded and laughed a little as well. "So, shall we?"

"Let's go," Asya replied picking up their jackets and hand Sakura's to her. The two walked out and went for dinner. They took a long route to the okonomiyaki shop looking at the elaborate Christmas window displays and decorations that were a mix of light shows and colorful trees. There were couples walking along on their way to romantic dinners and some happily drunk people going to find their next party. Even in spite of Kira everyone seemed jovial like they didn't have a care in the world.

They arrived and spent most of the evening chatting with a group at the table next to them. Each taking turns buying a round of sake and more food. It was the most fun Asya had allowed herself in years. She was always very reserved because of her abilities, never wanting to get close to anyone. Even if it was all character she was still enjoying herself, or maybe because she was playing the part she could allow herself to enjoy the time. The night wound down and they went back to their apartment.

**December 27, 2003**

"What? The FBI?!" Chief Yagami yelled in surprise. Watari stood listening silently to the interaction.

"They all died of heart attacks," Ide said relaying the details.

"And there's evidence that they were investigating the Japanese police!" Ukita remarked.

"What is the meaning of this? Contact the FBI immediately!" Yagami insisted. Suddenly Watari's cell phone began to ring.

"Watari, it's me. Get L for me," the voice said. _The head of the FBI? _Watari wondered if the FBI would be pulling out of the mission given the news. He then connected him to L's phone.

***

"L, I just got word of the agents. I've attempted to contact all twelve and received no response," the FBI head told him. "I believe Kira has killed them all."

"Please calm down and listen carefully. Did any of the agents know each others' faces?" L asked.

"Not until yesterday…" he replied hesitantly.

"Yesterday?" L echoed.

"Yes, I received a request to verify friendlies in the country so I sent the file," he replied. L pondered a moment.

"That's it! Kira must have somehow gotten in touch with that agent and gotten the file," L said. "Who did you send the file to?"

"That was…. All of my agents," he told L.

"All of them…" L thought aloud as he ran his thumb across his lower lip.

"I sent the first four myself and told them to pass it along to the others," the FBI director said.

"If Kira can manipulate their actions before death… It's possible he saw one of their copies, made that person send it on and killed them all…" L said continuing his thought process.

"I'm sorry L. But I have to call off our Japanese investigation," the director told him. L looked down at his computer with surprise. "First this was a matter of someone killing criminals but now innocent agents have lost their lives. It was my decision to send them but now my country will ask me to take responsibility. My face is publicly known and I hold my life dear. The FBI is washing its hands of this situation." Suddenly a message came over the FBI director's intercom telling him Chief Yagami was calling. "I'm going to tell them I acted on your behalf L. Good bye."

***

"The FBI surveyed those relate to the investigation at L's direction!?" Chief Yagami growled into the phone.

"I knew we couldn't trust him," Ide huffed.

"That means Kira is going to try to kill anyone who tries to find him!" Matsuda said in a fearful voice.

"Those guys that quit before were right!" Ide said. "I can't take this anymore!"

"Hey, hey calm down," Aizawa said trying to defuse the situation. Chief Yagami watched on worried that his team was crumbling right before his eyes.

***

Sakura sat wide eyed staring at the recent information of the deaths of the FBI agents. _Damn, I should have known better then to take the time off,_ she thought to herself. _But who would have known he'd go after all of them, and now no less… Kira is one lucky bastard… _

"I can't believe it," Asya said as she opened the file on her computer. "Maybe I was wrong about us taking time off…"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," Sakura told her. "This is pretty bold though. I am certain that it means he contacted one of them in person to get all the information. There has to be some evidence!"

"Apparently they all received files on who the other agents were that were working the case," Asya said.

"So then, that would mean it's not the order of their death, but perhaps the order they received the file in?" Sakura thought aloud.

"That's what I was thinking, alright let's get to work!" Asya said as they prepared for a long night of investigation. She wasn't going to give up for anything. She felt a lot of regret for their days off and intended to do all she could to try to solve this case.


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN:** Hey all, I'm thinking chaps may be shorter these days until work gets a little less hectic but I'm going to keep trying to update._

**December 30, 2003**

"Its gone dark," Matt said to a very frustrate Asya on the other end of the phone line.

"What do you mean 'gone dark'? Why would that happen?!" Asya yelled frustratedly.

"They're not transporting data out to any of Watari's servers…and I can't even locate L's laptop now. If you still want to get their information you'd have to do a hack at his location…" Matt told her running his hand over his face after having been up the entire night trying to find a way to get new case data after getting a call stating that they were no longer receiving updates.

"How do you expect us to do that? You're the techno-geek!" Asya replied getting more agitated.

"Sakura has a contact that I believe is in the country. She might be able to help," Matt said hopeful that Mary would be available. "She has the skills in regard to penetrating security unnoticed but the true computer hack I may have to guide her on… Get her a burn phone to take on the job and give her my line 7 to call."

"It's better than nothing I guess… This better work red, or I will come back there and…"

"Now, now, no reason to get all violent on me. I'm doing the best I can from over here. It's not as if I could just walk across the street and say 'hey L, you really ought to get things back on the live servers..'."

"So who do I tell her to contact smart ass?"

"Tell her to call Wedy. Let me know once it's all set and I'll call you back to let you know if it worked or not," Matt hung up without letting her give a reply. "God she's wound tight…"

"What did you think she was magically going to change over night?" Mello asked with a laugh as he ripped open a candy bar wrapper taking a fierce bite.

"I didn't expect her to freak out. I mean with her talent I don't even know why she's so obsessed with keeping access to L's info," Matt said slouching down into the chair in front of the computer in his room.

"Would you want to go around gaining everybody's inner most thoughts and memories just to find one person?" Mello asked curiously. Matt pondered for a moment with surprise, was he defending her?

"I guess not. Does sound pretty crappy if every time I bumped into somebody I'd know more than I wanted to…" Matt replied. Mello smiled, he liked being right more than he cared about whose side he was on. "Well it seems all that's left is to wait and see what happens."

***

"The nerve of that…" Asya started after being hung up on by Matt.

"He's doing the best he can; he spent 15 straight hours trying to figure it out. What did he suggest?" Sakura said trying to calm Asya down.

"He said you should contact some girl named Wedy and she might be able to help," Asya told her.

"Wedy? Well, she could get past the security systems. She's a burglar though not a hacker…" Sakura said wondering why Matt suggested her.

"He told me we should get her a phone and he could walk her through the hack," Asya replied in an unenthused tone. She was fairly certain this wasn't going to work. Since the death of the FBI agents information had been sparse and now came to a complete halt.

"Well we should at least try it. Who knows it might just work, at least for a little while," Sakura said as she picked up her phone dialing Wedy's number.

"General Chen's Barbeque, how may I help you?"

"It's S."

"Well to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need your help with something."

"Why don't we meet up?"

"Alright, meet me at the 100% Chocolate Café"

"See you at seven."

With that the two hung up. Sakura looked at the time she still had a couple hours until she had to meet Wedy so she got ready to go buy the phone.

"So we're meeting her at a cafe?" Asya asked curiously.

"No, I'm meeting her," Sakura replied.

"I'm going with you. I don't like the idea of teaming up with a crook," Asya told her.

"I've worked with her before, there's nothing to worry about," Sakura said wondering why Asya was adamant about going.

"We just have to be careful. I mean with what Kira has done who knows maybe some criminals would think they could catch a break if they reveal who is chasing him," Asya told her.

"You're over thinking this. Besides she doesn't know my true identity anyhow," Sakura replied calmly.

"Alright," Asya said giving in. Even if she would end up tailing her just to be sure she was really safe. With that Sakura went out to go buy the phone and call Matt to let him know they made contact with Wedy.

***

"So now, after all this that smug ass is 'willing to meet' us? Like it's some sort of honor? Hell, realistically it will probably just be somebody posing as L and not even the real L. I'm sorry, I can't and won't be part of this anymore… You guys go ahead, I won't say anything, but I can't be a part of this," Ide said as they all sat discussing L's offer for them to meet him at his hotel.

"But why? I mean isn't he the world's greatest detective?" Matsuda innocently interjected.

"I guess if being the best means hiding out like a coward and letting other people die for you, sure," Ide replied angrily.

"I can respect that you don't want to continue on this assignment. There won't be any repercussions. I appreciate all the hard work that you've done Hideki, thank you," Chief Yagami said hoping he would be the last to throw in the towel. They were down to five now without Ide.

"Thank you sir, it's been an honor to work with you," Ide said as he stood from the table and walked out of the room wishing them good luck.

"So then we're it… Things have really dwindled since this all started," Aizawa said.

"Well, it just goes to show we're the bravest ones!" Matsuda replied in his usual upbeat tone receiving a chastising look from the Chief. "Sorry…"

"It's settled then, we'll meet him tomorrow," the Chief said. "Now everyone go home. I have a feeling that once we start working directly with L we'll have even less time with our families then we do now." They all nodded rising from their chairs. They all started making their way out the last two were Aizawa and the Chief. Aizawa waited for the other three to go ahead and stopped the Chief.

"Do you think it will be like Ide said?" Aizawa asked.

"What do you mean?" the Chief questioned.

"That it won't even really be L," Aizawa replied quietly.

"Does it really matter? We've come this far, we have to see this case through. We can't just let scum like Kira get away with what he's been doing," Yagami told him.

"Right.." Aizawa said with a little hesitance before he walked out the door.

***

Sakura spotted Wedy in front of the café and went up greeting her. Wedy pulled her close and they walked inside. Sakura looked at her with confusion.

"You've got a tail, you should be more careful," Wedy whispered. Sakura glanced out curiously. "You shouldn't be able to miss her, it's her eyes she just has a look like she's stalking prey…"

"She didn't listen…" Sakura mumbled and Wedy looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm working with her. I told her I would meet you myself…"

"Why don't you tell her to join us? She's giving me the creeps staring from that book store across the street," Wedy told her. Sakura nodded pulling out her phone and calling Asya.

"Hey, remember what I said about Matt being a scary stalker? He's got nothing on you," Sakura said into the phone watching Asya's eyes widen in surprise. "Come on over and have a cup of espresso with us." Then she ended the call putting her phone back into her bag.

"So, what's the deal?" Wedy asked as she watched Asya coming across the street.

"Everything you need to know is here," Sakura told her handing her a cell phone. "But once you read the message it will delete automatically." Wedy nodded quickly looking over the message and putting the phone in her pocket.

"This won't be easy you know, it's him after all," Wedy said with a smirk like the idea of the challenge.

"I've got faith," Sakura said as Asya sat with them.

"I don't," Asya whispered.

"Well I'll just have to prove myself on this one then I guess," Wedy replied with a sly smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**December 31, 2003**

"I'm surprised such a nice hotel has such filthy duct work," Wedy whispered into the headset she was wearing as she crawled through the ventilation system of the hotel that L had headquartered himself in.

"Did you think there was some sort of fairies that cleaned those things? That's what the air filters in the vents to the rooms are for," Matt replied with a slight laugh as he slouched on the couch with his DS in hand passing the time until she needed him to walk her through the hack.

"This is a little bit much though, there are candy wrappers up here," Wedy grumbled slight and paused.

"Did you say, candy wrappers?" Matt said sitting up now and setting the DS down. He ran his hand over his face with slight concern wondering if L had set some sort of alert system up in the duct work surrounding his suite or if it was some odd coincidence.

"You don't think he rigged something do you?" Wedy questioned.

"Would you put it past him?" Matt replied.

"Good point… I suppose it's a good thing I brought some powder. I can see if there are any laser sensors up here," Wedy said as she scooted onto her side pulling a bottle of powder from her messenger bag. She took a bit of the powder in the palm of her hand and blew it in the direction she was headed. "Damn… I knew this wasn't going to be easy but this is ridiculous…" she stared at the blue laser lines, there were at least ten crisscrossing each other every two feet.

"What are you seeing?" Matt asked as he went to sit at his computer in hopes that he could find a way to hack the power to give her some time.

"It's a complex laser motion sensor system… I know you're probably thinking power cut, but I am guessing he has this on a backup power supply," Wedy said taking a deep breath and brushing her hair back from her face.

"Alright, so, any suggestions? There's not a lot I can do from over here," Matt said as he hacked into the power systems to the hotel.

"I guess I'll just have to do this the old fashioned way…" Wedy mumbled pulling a small double-sided mirror from her bag.

"Don't you think destroying it would alert him?" Matt said with a laugh.

"Who knows? Maybe I just want to see a flashy explosion.. Pull the power on my call, there's probably a slight delay if he does have these set to a backup relay. So I'll need a few seconds then put the power back and I'll tell you each time when to pop the power," she told Matt.

"Great… This doesn't seem too sketchy at all," Matt said shaking his head as he stayed at the ready for her signal to cut the power.

***

Sakura sat on the couch sipping a cup of tea as she watched the news. Meanwhile Asya paced in the kitchen. Sakura would glance over now and then trying not to laugh. She couldn't understand why Asya was so wound up.

"I hate this, I want you to know that," Asya grumbled.

"Why don't you calm down and have some tea," Sakura replied patting the seat next to her.

"How can you be so calm while putting the fate of our investigation in the hands of a criminal?" Asya asked.

"You need to lighten up, Matt is walking her through this, everything will be fine," Sakura said as she turned the volume up when a report of more Kira killings were listed. "Well at least they haven't stopped broadcasting the murders; we can get some info this way still."

"How do you know the information is valid? Maybe L has them with holding things," Asya said.

"Well then I suppose it's a good thing that Wedy is going to fix that problem for us…" Sakura replied. "C'mon, just take a breath alright, you're going to give yourself a heart attack being so uptight!" Sakura laughed but then realized her poor wording and looked over apologetically to Asya who simply sighed shaking her head as she walked over.

"I guess there's no changing your mind, huh?" Asya said. Sakura looked at her curiously waiting for her to continue. "I just have a bad feeling about this… I'm always on edge because part of me thinks we shouldn't be here at all…" aside the promise she made to L that she had partly broke, there was this overwhelming feeling of dread every time she thought about this case.

"Hey…" Sakura started softly as she put her hand on Asya's shoulder. "I know the idea of Kira is a very frightening prospect, but we have to remember, he's just a person. He's not some God… We will catch him. That much I can assure you of. So for now let's just wait until we hear from Wedy, okay?" Sakura asked with a reassuring smile. Asya nodded conceding to Sakura.

***

L sat at a table with files strewn about the room, steam steadily rising from the freshly poured cup of tea in front of him. He glanced over the files as he tossed sugar cubes into the cup. Why did it feel like he wasn't making as much headway as he wanted? It was as though Kira just enjoyed stringing him along, like it was some sort of game… Well, L was not about to lose. He smirked to himself regaining his resolve albeit through his childish need to win it was also for the sake of Justice. He could not allow this criminal to prevail.

Before he knew it L's cup of tea soon turned completely into a cup of sugar with tea taking up more of the saucer than the cup. He gave a slight sigh and took the cup into the kitchen pouring himself a new cup of tea. Just as he set it down the lights went out. He listened intently and could hear the ducts above the room flexing but had assumed it was most likely the air handler system's backup power opening the vents. Within moments the power returned to normal. He returned to glancing at the files and threw a few sugar cubes into his tea, stirring it and taking a sip. His nose scrunched up slightly, not enough sugar… He tossed a few more cubes in and picked up his spoon. Again the power goes out; he runs his hand through his hair as he gets up out of his chair.

He had memorized the entire layout of the room so that he could walk through it with his eyes closed. He paused to listen and again heard the thuds in the ducts above the room. It was an imperfect sound, not quite mechanical, but whatever or rather, whoever was trying to replicate the sound did quite a good job. As the power returned again he went over to his computer. He had installed laser motion sensor as well as cameras within the duct work above the room, with this case there was no such thing as overboard when it came to security.

He opened the program to start running the cameras and just as the image was about to display the power went out yet again. He slammed his hands on the desk in frustration, someone was doing a hard shut down of the power there was no warning and the building's generator wasn't coming on. L walked over getting his laptop out and booting it up. Unfortunately it didn't have the security programming on it but it did have a link to the Wammy house in London. If it was as he suspected someone he knew was up to something.

He got the video link up started and scanned through the video feeds of the various rooms. It was oddly somber and quiet at the house which made him curious.

***

"Shit! He's finally doing it…" Matt yelled as he picked up another phone called Mello. He had set up the video system to send him a message if there were ever an external link up to the cameras.

"What's up?" Mello asked with a confused look consider the fact that he was only a couple doors down wondering why Matt didn't just come see him.

"Somebody's watching home movies…" Matt said quietly.

"Damnit! I'll take care of it…" Mello said and slammed his cell phone shut. He quickly went over to his own laptop and opened the looping video program of Sakura that he had, hoping that he wasn't too late. L hadn't been checking up on Sakura as much as Mello though he would so he began getting lazy about covering for her. He had a feeling it might come back to bite him. But there was nothing more he could do now.

Matt returned his focus to the computer and switched the screen to display one of his RPG's knowing that every room had a camera and it would look suspicious if he disabled his besides he would receive an alert once the external link disconnected. He started talking randomly to Wedy who after a few frustrated minutes started to understand what he was up to.

"Can't you do something? If you shut down the power here won't that take care of his video connection?" Wedy asked.

"I could do that but it's pretty unpredictable if Twizzlers are under the spotlight, they melt you know," he said meaning that he wasn't sure if L was watching him.

"Did you really just call yourself a Twizzler?" Wedy asked stifling a laugh despite the encroaching sense of claustrophobia from being stuck between two of the laser sensors.

"Yes, I like the strawberry ones myself," Matt replied. This banter went on a bit longer and Matt started to get worried, it had already been twenty minutes that L was connected to the system. The odds that L believed something was amiss started to rise. Matt calculated a probability of thirty five percent.

Wedy's leg was starting to cramp from sitting crouched in the duct for so long and she winced trying to move in what little room she had. "You need to do something about this…"

"I don't see what all the fuss is about, there is adequate room in this ventilation shaft…" L's voice came from the dark right next to her. Wedy gasped slightly, how long had he been there? What did he know? She began to panic which wasn't in her nature but he had thoroughly surprised her. She figured if he had gotten into the shaft that quietly and stealthily the motion sensors must have been off. She went to make a move. "I wouldn't do that Wedy… You've been very lucky, those lasers could kill you."

Matt listened in disbelief, he should have known that L wasn't actually watching the video feed. He was using it to stall them and if he caught the person in the air shafts he would know that person was connected to Wammy's… _Damn, he is good…._ Matt thought to himself. "Wedy, throw the phone into the lasers, if nothing else we can't let him know the truth…" he said hoping Wedy could still hear him. She tossed the phone and it burst to pieces setting on fire.

"Well, I guess I won't be talking to your accomplice right away… Wedy, please come this way, carefully," L directed pulling her arm slightly. She knew she didn't have a choice; clearly he had a way to systematically shut off each layer of the lasers and turn them back on behind them. She sighed wondering what would happen next.

***

Sakura's cell phone began to ring with the sound of a very cheesy 8-bit Mario Bros. tone. She grinned knowing it was Matt as she picked it up. "So, we're all set?" she asked with a smile.

"Well, you see what happened was…" Matt started and paused. "Wedy got caught… Luckily she did get to destroy the phone, but I think he knows the connection is with someone from Wammy's…" he told her.

"What do you mean, caught?" Sakura asked and Asya's eyes widened.

"Caught, you know, come with me or die, you have no choice, I've figured you out, caught," Matt told her.

"Great… Well, I wonder what we should do now?" Sakura said in a pondering tone.

"What we should do is go home before he finds out," Asya interjected. Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't know what else I can do for you, unless you can get someone physically in that room we can't get connected to him again. Or… Wait a minute… He had connected his laptop to our system, there's no way he's erased his path yet, if I start now I might be able to worm into his server over there.." Matt said becoming more confident by the minute.

"Great! Give it a try and let me know if you can get through," Sakura said and they hung up.

"What the hell is he trying now?" Asya asked. Sakura grinned widely and just winked at her. "What does that mean?"

"It means don't worry unless," Sakura told her.

"Unless what?" Asya asked.

"Unless I start to worry," Sakura replied. Asya ran her hand across her forehead frustratedly as she shook her head. "If worse comes to worst we'll just have to investigate people the old fashioned way."

"Red better get whatever he is doing to work…" Asya grumbled.

***

"Are you excited?" Matsuda said in a giddy tone.

"Why?" Aizawa asked giving a confused look.

"It's _L_!" Matsuda replied.

"He's a detective just like any one of us, besides he's asked for _our_ help… So don't put him on some sort of pedestal Matsuda," The Chief told him sternly.

"Right, sorry boss," Matsuda said sullenly.

They all walked in and paused in front of the door to the room that they had been instructed to go to. "This is it; we are dedicating ourselves to this case when we walk through this door. This is your last chance; you can walk away now if you want…" The Chief told them all in a serious voice. The team stayed silent nodding their response that they would see this through to the end.

Inside the room Wedy and L sat at a table in the main sitting room. "I take it someone sent you?" L asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes as if he already knew the answer. She simply shrugged returning a smug smirk. "Well, you know, the police should be here any moment, so I suppose that's all there is to say…"

"I don't think it would look too good for you to be sitting around sipping tea with criminal. Though at least they would know you're not Kira, right?" Wedy replied with a slight laugh.

"Realistically, I do believe I may need your services at some point in the future, if you can disappear before the police enter this room, you were never here and I will never ask again why you were here today..." L told her.

"Well it's time for a magic act then!" she replied with a wink as she heard the knock on the door. L made his way toward the door and Wedy made her way back up and into the ducts replacing the vent cover behind herself. She paused a moment wondering if L had turned off the motion sensors. She got out her powder and blew it across the vent. No lasers. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way out.

Watari got to the door before L did and opened it telling the task force to enter. The team walked in taking in the surrounds of the posh large suite. Their eyes meandered the space until they all set upon the young man in the doorway using his right foot to scratch his left leg. The team couldn't hide the looks that floated between shock and near disgust at the site of him.

"Gentlemen, please turn off your cell phones and leave them with Watari… The information shared here cannot be shared with anyone outside of these walls," L told them as he nonchalantly waved them to come into the sitting room. They began to discuss information amongst themselves and share different angles of the case.

****

_**AN: **__So sorry everyone!! I've been insanely busy with work and haven't really had a chance to breath let alone the chance to write. I'm sorry this chapter isn't very long but I hope I can get back into writing more again._


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: **_Hello all, first I must say, I'm really sorry that it's been so very long since I last wrote.. I'm not sure who of you readers are left. Hopefully you'll stick around. I've recently been re-reading and got a bit of motivation to pick this back up. So to that end, you may need to look back to the last chapter of Opposites Attract to get one or two references. Sumimasen deshita minna sama!_

**January 10, 2004**

"So we're completely in the dark then?" Asya asked in a clearly defeated voice.

"Matt did the best he could to try to reconnect but our only way would have been if Wedy was successful in the direct hack. At this point we're just lucky she didn't reveal anything to him. Like I told you, don't worry," Sakura told her but couldn't hide the look of uncertainty as she wondered how they would continue. Just as she was lost in thought the apartment land line phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Asya answered the phone with slight confusion in her voice. "What? What do you mean? How could something like that occur? Yes, that's right, Amanda Spencer and Haruko Yoshida. The 17th then? I understand. We will be there.." She hung up the phone and turned to look at Sakura still confused.

"What was that all about?" Sakura asked curious what was significant about the 17th.

"They lost our entrance exam scores at To Oh… We have to re-take them on the 17th in order to keep our cover intact," Asya replied.

"Great, that's just what we need…" Sakura said with a sigh as she flopped onto the couch.

"Maybe we should just…" Asya started and Sakura's look turned almost pleading. "How can you want to stay? We gave it a good try, but we've been cut off from any real information. What is the point to continuing? We only had a couple of mediocre leads at best."

"If you want to leave, go ahead. I intend to see this to the end. I'll find a way to get more intel," Sakura told her confidently as she stood and put her jacket on.

"I won't leave you here alone," Asya said firmly as she blocked Sakura's path.

"I'm not going to be alone, I've still got Matt and Mello backing me," she said pushing past Asya and went quickly out the door. Asya's jaw clenched as she stared blankly at the floor.

"Damnit Sakura… I'm not breaking a promise," Asya said aloud to the empty room as she quickly threw her jacket on and ran out the door to find Sakura.

* * *

It had been two days since L began the surveillance on the Yagami and Kitamura families. Chief Yagami sat with him diligently watching as his own family's privacy being invaded and they would never even know. The Chief couldn't hide his unease at the secretive nature of his son which he had never noticed before.

L sat watching the day's events in the Yagami household. There was nothing out of the ordinary but yet they seemed almost too perfect. He just needed some small slip up, some little clue, he had to keep watching, and he couldn't afford to miss it. There had to be something… There was something about Light that made him unable to shake the feeling he was the one they were looking for…

He had just watched Light walk out the door and since his primary target left he decided to go make himself a cup of coffee. Lost in all his thoughts he hadn't realized he was still pouring coffee and flowed directly over burning his had he flinched and the cup dropped from his hand crashing to the ground.

"Ryuzaaki, are you alright?" Watari asked seeming to appear out of nowhere. The Chief glanced into the kitchen noticing the broken porcelain on the floor and his features tighten wondering what could make L be so careless.

"What happened?" Soichiro asked finally walking in to the kitchen.

"Nothing at all," L replied not looking at either of them as he ran some cold water over his hand. Soichiro's eyes narrowed on L trying to figure out what it was that bother him, but perhaps it was something other than the case… This made him think about how much he missed having time with his family but there was no time for regrets or anything other than focusing on the case.

"Alright, I'm going to go have a cigarette while you clean yourself up," Soichiro told him and walked out into one of the other rooms.

"What are you thinking about?" Watari asked quietly as he knelt down picking up pieces of the broken cup.

"I can't afford any distraction… But something about that night I saw Wedy is still bothering me…" he replied.

"The others just care, I'm sure they were probably trying to monitor your progress from the house," Watari attempted to reassure him, though he didn't necessarily believe his own words.

"I doubt that… There is only one person I can think would be able to put Wedy up to that… And I don't want to believe that the first promise between the newest addition in the house and me is already broken…" L's jaw was tightening as he thought that Sakura might have gotten herself into this when he told Asya to keep her safe in England. He ran his hand over his face, he couldn't think about it, especially not when the NPA detectives were around.

"Perhaps you should call after our guests have gone for the day?" Watari suggested. L gave an I'll think about it sort of glance and quickly went back to work.

"Good, you're back…Let's see what you do this evening…Light.." L muttered to himself too quiet for The Chief to hear as he sat back down to watch.

* * *

"Light, how much longer do you think these cameras will be around?.. I'm dying for an apple… It's killing me!" Ryuk said dramatically as Light ignored him and opened a study book. "Oh yeah... You can't talk... This really sucks, I'm so bored…" Light sighed wishing the shinigami would just shut up already. He had the perfect plan to get L off his back. Light grabbed his bag of potato chips and popped them open. "You're eating again? You just had dinner… The ladies won't like you if you start getting fat.." Ryuk remarked.

"Alright, time to get to studying," Light said aloud to himself still ignoring Ryuk's commentary as he took a potato chip out and tossed it into his mouth. _You'll be my alibi L… You will see with your own eyes criminals getting killed while an innocent student studies…_ Light smirked to himself as he placed his hand into the bag turning on the mini-tv inside of it and smoothly took a chip out of the bag crunching it dramatically. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," he said proudly as he took notes with his right hand and wrote a name on a torn piece of the Death Note with his left. After a few hours of "studying", Light got up stretching his arms to the ceiling. "I think that's enough for tonight," he said as he crumpled the chip bag and tossed it into the waste basket next to his desk.

"Wait, you're just going to throw away that mini-tv?" Ryuk asked with surprise, he wasn't sure if Light was smart or just spoiled rotten. Ryuk shrugged as he was still being ignored, he'd find out more the next day.

Light prepared for bed and laid down completely impressed with his own performance. He was certain that this would ensure his innocence. L would have been watching with his own eyes and would have to admit that he had no way of being able to kill those criminals. Everything was going perfectly according to his plan. Not even the _mighty_ L would be able to stop his plans to create a perfect world.

* * *

L sat staring at the screens, his thumb grazing his lower lip, waiting, watching… Hoping for Light to give some sign, to prove that he was indeed Kira. _Give me something Light…_ L thought to himself and his thoughts were suddenly shattered by Matsuda barging into the room in a jovial tone.

"Kira just killed three criminals!" he announced in an excited voice. "I guess that means Light is innocent, right Chief?" L's eyes narrowed on Matsuda with derision until he heard what seemed to be a sigh of relief from Soichiro. L focused his eyes back to the screen. This was not over yet.

"Perhaps…" was all L said in reply to Matsuda's intrusion.

Even this one word gave Soichiro some solace. He could hardly bear the thought that his own son, the pride of his life, would be capable of such travesties. It simply couldn't be true. His son understood the true meaning of the justice system and that following the law was the only way for true justice to be revealed. He would never do something so monstrous… Would he? Soichiro quickly shook off the moment of uncertainty, "until L is certain we will continue our surveillance."

"But Chief what about your wife and daughter?" Matsuda interjected.

"Don't you think I understand Matsuda?! But we cannot afford to not be thorough or to provide favoritism to anyone," The Chief growled out at Matsuda.

"Of course… Sorry Chief…" Matsuda said quietly with his head lowered as he walked back out of the room.

"I admire your conviction Mr. Yagami," L said quietly as he examined Soichiro's features, he had a determined look in his eyes.

"What else can I do? I believe in my son. His name will be cleared. But until then, we have to do our job," he replied maintaining his gaze on the monitors. After a few more hours L could see that The Chief was getting tired. He kept adjusting his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose attempting to maintain focus.

"Mr. Yagami, perhaps you should get some rest. There's nothing going on here," L told him without looking over at him.

"If you're still going, then so am I," Soichiro told him.

"Please, Mr. Yagami, you will not be of any use if your judgment is clouded by fatigue," L replied, not wanting to say he actually wanted to make a personal call… Soichiro nodded his agreement.

"Make sure you get some rest as well," Soichiro told him as he stood and left the room.

L waited a few minutes and closed the door locking it behind him. He took a deep breath as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He flipped it open scrolling to Sakura's number and just stared at it, uncertain if he should allow himself to hear her voice. He ran his hand over his face before hitting the send button and sat on the couch.

"Hello?" a sleepy Sakura said at the other end of the line.

"Hi," he said quietly. There was silence and it felt like forever to him. "Did I wake you?"

"I..It's really you?" Sakura's voice began to sound more awake now.

"Yes, it is. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch," he said apologetically.

'It's..it's fine, I understand," she said. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine… I just…" he paused, if he said he missed her would it do more harm than good?

"What is it? Are you sure everything is alright?" she asked her voice gaining more concern. He heard nothing on the other end, as if she was holding her breath waiting for his answer.

"Yes, I'm fine. Perhaps a bit tired that's all," he told her.

"It must be late there, isn't it?" she asked.

"It's only a bit after two in the morning…" he paused contemplating the fact that it would only be 6 pm in Winchester then. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, why?" Sakura replied quickly wondering what he was on to.

"Well, it's only about six in the evening there and it sounded like I woke you when I called… Seems a bit odd…" he said not wanting to think about if it was indeed her who sent Wedy to his hotel.

"Oh I stayed up way to late last night and so I just need to catch up. Threw my schedule off trying to rebuild the transmission on that Camaro Matt likes so much," Sakura told him trying to ease his concern.

"I see," was all he said. He wanted to believe her, he had to believe her. He couldn't afford to think about her being here in Japan, Asya didn't seem the type to break a promise… She had to be in Winchester…

"You're quiet… Even for you…" Sakura said with some concern.

"Sorry, just a lot on my mind. I should let you get your rest," he replied.

"Well, don't be such a stranger. Call me again sometime it's good to hear your voice," she told him. They said their goodbyes and he closed the phone putting it back into his pocket. He ran his hands through his hair and sat back staring at the ceiling.

"Why can't I believe you…" he mumbled to himself as a frown formed on his face. He began having second thoughts, perhaps he should have just brought her with him. He should have known she would try to follow him. But she said she was home, would she lie? Yes, yes she would… She probably thought it in his best interest… He couldn't search for her though, not in the midst of the Kira case. He had to trust that she would be safe.

* * *

Sakura looked around the dark room after hanging up with L and let out a long sigh. She wondered how long she'd be able to keep this up; she had been lucky up until now that he didn't contact her. Aside that they didn't have any leads… She hoped to find something on her walk early but the only thing she got was a long talk with Asya. But she wasn't certain if what she discovered was what she really wanted…

"_Wait!" Asya yelled as she chased after Sakura who had just stormed out of their apartment. Sakura took a deep breath and waited. "We need to talk. I have to tell you the real reason I'm here…" _

_Sakura's eyes widened with surprise but she nodded her consent and they went to a café to talk. They were seated at a quiet table toward the back of the café. No one else was around them so they would be free to talk._

"_So… The real reason?" Sakura asked curiously. "You know now that I think about it you never really did give me a reason. You guys just pushed it upon me…"_

"_There's a good reason. I made a promise," Asya started and Sakura tilted her head with an eyebrow raised waiting for her to continue. "To..Him." Sakura blinked a few times._

"_Wait… What sort of promise?" Sakura asked narrowing her eyes on Asya._

"_To keep you safe… That's the part that I haven't broken…" Asya said, her voice becoming quieter at the end of her statement._

"_Broken? There was more to it?" Sakura questioned._

"_He wanted me to keep you in England… But I knew that was impossible… And so… I came with you, I had to. I am not one to break promises. Perhaps bend them a bit, but the most important part of the promise was to ensure your safety. That is why, unless you leave, I can't leave…" she told her._

"_You're not bound to him or me by anything, why make a promise like that?" Sakura asked, almost as if she was trying to push Asya away. Asya laughed a bit, she knew this routine, and this sort of speech was her specialty. Had Sakura honestly forgotten who she was talking to? "Why are you laughing?"_

"_You can't get rid of me that easily…Haruko…" Asya told her with a slight smirk. _

"_Then just give me some more time, let's see this out a bit more and if we can't find anything useful, we'll go home…" Sakura said. Asya scanned her face wondering just how much more time… Would they have this conversation again? Just a few more days.. Just another week? "Ten days, please. That's all I'm asking for. Please…" Sakura looked at her with slight desperation then suddenly covered her mouth. "I have to.. Excuse me.." then she suddenly ran off to the bathroom._

_She barely made it to a stall and proceeded to get sick. After a few minutes she was able to stand again, slightly shaken she went out and washed her mouth and face. She looked up seeing Asya standing behind her with a concerned look._

"_What is going on? You were sick yesterday day too…" Asya said as she handed Sakura a few paper towels._

"_It's nothing. I'm sure it's just something I ate," Sakura reassured but was just as much attempting to reassure herself. She never got sick like that and hadn't ever had food poisoning… Her body tensed at the thought, it was only once… It couldn't be…_

"_There is something you're not telling me," Asya said with concern seeing a sort of look of realization but hesitance in Sakura's eyes. Sakura straightened up looking at herself in the mirror, her eyes wandering down to her belly. Asya's lips pursed with reluctance, her gaze went to the floor, and she had to regain her composure. What would she say? Should she force Sakura to go home? But what if it wasn't what she thought it was… Maybe she was just jumping to conclusions. _

"_I don't know if it's something I'm not telling you. It's something I am not certain of…" Sakura said quietly as she placed a hand on her lower abdomen. She closed her eyes a moment taking a shuddered breath then looked over at Asya. "What am I going to do…if…"_

"_You can't wonder about what-if's. You have to worry about right now. We don't know anything for certain, so we'll stay. We'll see if there's any progress we can make, but if the circumstances change and I have to make the call, I will take you back to England. And I hope you know that I will do whatever it takes to ensure I at least keep part of my promise to him," Asya told her._

"_Thank you…" Sakura said feigning a smile but still slightly scared about what the future might hold._

"Are you alright?" Asya said pulling Sakura from her memory of the day.

"Yeah, I'm fine. He called," Sakura told her. Her voice wavered between happiness and heartache.

"So that means he is safe," Asya replied as she flipped the light on in the room and sat with her.

"That's true," Sakura said with a light sigh.

"But..?" Asya asked. Sakura looked at her curiously. "You have but face. Like you were going to say 'That's true, but…'," she said and Sakura burst out laughing. She's never heard of 'but face' before.

"I think he's beginning to suspect that I'm not in England. So I just wonder if he'll try to find me. Or… What I will say to him, the next time I see him… If I see him again…" Sakura's thoughts quickly began to spiral as she held back tears, if the realization of earlier that day were true he deserved to know the truth…

"You'll see him again, I'm sure of it. All we need to worry about is right now. And right now I think you need to get your rest," Asya told her motioning for her to lay down. Sakura nodded and pulled the blanket close to herself. "I'll keep an eye on the news casts and let you know if anything interesting comes up. So for now just take it easy."

Asya turned out the light and walked into the front room turning on the TV and putting the volume low so she wouldn't disturb Sakura's sleep. Her phone began to vibrate on the coffee table she looked at it puzzled, usually Matt and Mello made contact through Sakura. She picked up the phone and saw a text from an unknown number.

"I trust you're keeping your promise…" it said, it was L… She should have known.

"Of course I am." She typed out and sent.

"Don't let her overdo it. It's very strange that she would be sleeping this early in the evening…" he replied.

"Right, I'll keep a better eye on her…" she sent back.

"Is there anything I should know?" he sent. Asya stared at it. Was Sakura right? Did he know they weren't at Wammy's? She had to stick to the plan. Until he actually asked specifically, and even then, she couldn't say. That was for Sakura to say, if she wanted to.

"No, it's been fairly uneventful here. Everything is fine," she replied. She sat for a while waiting and no reply came. Was that all he had to say?... Was he waiting for something more? No, she knew he wasn't a social savant. Maybe he just didn't care to properly end a conversation. She shrugged to herself and set the phone back down picking up the remote control flipping through the news channels.

**January 12, 2004**

"So, Ryuzaaki, did you ever end up talking to her?" Watari asked in a moment that they were alone.

"Yes, and by all appearances things are going fine there," he replied not looking up as he grabbed a cake.

"Appearances?" Watari echoed.

"There is something going on. But I haven't had the time to delve into it. And this surveillance is revealing…Nothing…" L said with a heavy sigh.

"You're not giving up, are you?" Watari questioned. L gave a look of offense. There was not a chance he would give up on this case, even if it cost his life he would serve justice. "Very good. If you need anything, let me know. I'll send in the others for your update."

"Sometimes I think he just likes to get me riled…" L muttered to himself as the others walked in.

"So? Is there something new?" Ukita asked hoping they could move on from this surveillance. He wasn't sure how the chief was able to keep so cool about the whole thing.

"Our surveillance of the Yagami and Kitamura households has revealed…" L paused and they all looked on in anticipation. "Nothing."

"So all of this was a waste of time?" Aizawa questioned with a perturbed glance.

"I wouldn't go that far… But we will have to move on to other leads," L replied. "Watari, please remove the cameras and wire taps from the houses."

"That's great news isn't it Chief?" Matsuda touted excitedly.

"We still have a job to do, but yes I am glad that they are no longer suspects," Soichiro admitted.

"I didn't say that," L commented quietly.

"What do you mean? You still suspect them?" Aizawa said his tone giving away the frustration they all had.

"Only maybe 35%... We need to pursue other leads though so there's no sense in discussing this further, what's done is done," L told him. Aizawa eyed him curiously for a moment but didn't say anything further.

* * *

"You know, we haven't heard from them in a while... Have you tried calling S?" Mello asked as he sat down on Matt's bed.

"No, I was thinking less contact is better. If they need something, they'll let us know," Matt replied not looking up from his DS.

"I'm serious Matt. I don't like that they haven't even given an update in this long," Mello said yanking the DS from his hands.

"Well then why don't you call her?" Matt asked with goading glance.

"Maybe I will," Mello said as he pulled his phone from his pocket. Matt sat waiting to see how the phone call would go. "Would you stop staring at me?" Mello commanded with a glare.

"What would you have me do? You took my DS…" Matt replied with a shrug. Mello lifted the DS about to throw it at him and Matt reflexively raised his arms when suddenly he stopped mid-motion.

"Hey, it's M….." Mello's voice was oddly soft.

"Miss me dontcha?" Sakura teased on the other end.

"No, you idiots just haven't checked in lately," Mello huffed getting back to his normal self.

"Aww, you do care," Sakura said needling.

"Maybe I shouldn't have called you!" Mello groused.

"It's good to hear from you. How are things over there?" she asked stopping her taunting.

"Quiet… There's been nothing going on and L never re-established a connection to the data things here," Mello told her. Matt stifled a laugh. "What are you laughing at?"

"The data thingies are called servers Mel…" Matt said with a smirk.

"I should kick your ass!" Mello growled.

"Hey, M, did you need something?" Sakura asked trying to get him back on track and hopefully preventing Matt from getting hit.

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright that's all," he told her.

"Yeah I'm fine, everything's cool…" she replied and there was a long silence.

"You lying to me?" Mello asked curiously.

"What would make you think that?" she asked in reply.

"Because you're never that quiet," he said giving Matt an odd glance. Matt motioned for him to put the phone on speaker.

"I'm just tired, you know how hard we're working," she told him.

"You have been out of touch for a while though…" Matt commented.

"Not you too… It hasn't been a while, we haven't even been here _that_ long," she retorted with a laugh.

"Yeah, because you'd really tell us if something was wrong…" Mello huffed.

"I really can't talk right now, I have to go guys, sorry," Sakura said and hung up quickly.

"What. The. Hell.." Mello said staring wide eyed and angry at his phone.

"Apparently you pushed a bit much?" Matt said hesitantly. Mello's glare whipped around to Matt and out of reflex Matt edged away a bit waiting for the storm that was Mello's temper to open up.

"There is something going on with her. We should go get her. We never should have let her go out there," Mello said as his hands clenched tightly into fists. Matt pushed his goggles up taking Mello's hands and looking at him for a moment.

"We've got to trust her. If she's in deep she'll let us know, and she knows where L is, so if she really needed somebody he's right there," Matt attempted to reassure him.

"But he doesn't know he's right where she is and that she's there and why wouldn't she tell us if something is up? We've told her all sorts of secrets, why can't she tell us what is going on?" Mello went from anger to defeat.

"We have to stay here. If we're all in the same place its all the more likely that Kira could get Wammy's and then he'll never be caught. We have to think of everyone. We are the final line of defense," Matt told him, as much as he hated being overly serious he knew Mello had to have a solid reason to stay or he would run off in the night. Mello frowned but nodded in agreement.

"There's something going on though, I just know it…" Mello said in a hesitant tone.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** _Hello all, hopefully you are doing well. A big thanks to MinaoTskino for the nice review and favoriting the story! I am glad you like it and I hope to keep writing a story that you'll continue to enjoy. (^_^) So without further ado, let's get back to it! This was turning into a pretty long chapter so in remember some suggestions about my lengthy writing I will be breaking this one into 2 chapters. January 17__th__ will be a long day for our DN friends._

**January 17, 2004**

"Hurry up, we're going to be late," Asya said as she waited at the door of the apartment for Sakura. They had to get to the entrance exams. If they didn't maintain their student identities the apartment housing and their visa status would be voided and it would be simpler to maintain their current identities than to create new ones. Though part of Asya hoped they didn't make it. She didn't have a good feeling about staying in Japan.

"Alright, I'm ready!" Sakura announced as she rummaged through her purse grabbing a piece of candied ginger and eating it.

"Your stomach still bothering you?" Asya questioned. Sakura simply shrugged and went to open the door. Asya shook her head slightly and followed out after her.

They took a bus up to the University campus and had to rush to get in to the exam hall. The two had gotten in just in time as not long after they took their seats the professor had called for the test to begin. Sakura looked around, her heart stopped as her eyes set upon one of the students in an aisle seat near the back. _Okay, just stay calm, he won't even notice you…_ She convinced herself. Her eyes scanned back toward the front and a few rows up she noticed Light. _L must have the same idea about him…_ Sakura thought to herself.

"Are you alright?" Asya whispered seeing an odd look upon Sakura's face.

"Well... The student body here is rather _interesting_…" Sakura replied quietly giving a sideways glance. Asya looked around and spotted Light.

"We knew he had applied here, that's not really too much of a surprise to see him at the exams," Asya told her wondering why Sakura seemed a bit uncomfortable.

"That's not who I'm talking about…" Sakura began. "Look a few rows back from him…" Asya scanned back a few seats and her eyes slightly widened. Just as her glance fell upon him L looked up meeting her gaze. His brow furrowed slightly a moment then his eyes returned forward.

"He looked right at me… I can't tell if he recognized me or not," Asya told her hesitantly. Sakura forced herself not to look again; she had to maintain their cover.

"It'll be fine, let's just take this test and get out of here…" Sakura reassured.

"Student 143 and 144! Be quiet!" the professor groused as he came up to them. "And what is this 143? You can't eat here!" he grabbed Sakura's bag of candied ginger off the desk giving a disapproving look.

"But it's for my stomach ache…" Sakura replied meekly.

"If just this test gives you that much stress perhaps you shouldn't be here…" the professor told her with an unenthused glance. "Student 162, sit properly in your chair!" Another student was reprimanded by the professor. Sakura couldn't help glancing back; the student that was being chastised was L. His eyes were focused on someone forward of him and she followed his gaze landing on Light who was looking back at L.

Light began to move his gaze back to his test paper when he saw Sakura. She gave a small smile and Light gave a soft look mouthing "good luck" to her. Though Light had a moment of paranoid thought, how could these girls get into this prestigious school? They hadn't seemed all that bright the day he had spent with them at the amusement park. Could they possibly be following him? No, that's ridiculous, and even if they were he had nothing to worry about, his plan was going perfectly.

After the test Sakura sat absentmindedly staring off until she got a nudge from Asya. _He keeps looking at you.._ Asya motioned in sign language. _Which one?_ Sakura asked in return. _Light…_ Asya replied. A smirk formed on Sakura's face and she quickly glanced over at Light catching him. Light feigned embarrassment and returned his gaze to his desk.

_They can't possibly be anything more than students… But just to be sure, maybe I'll get closer to find out.._ Light thought to himself. Something felt off about seeing those two again to him.

* * *

"Time is up! Please leave your tests and they will be collected. You are dismissed," the professor ordered.

"Finally…" Sakura said with a sigh as she stood. Just as she turned to exit the row she ran into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry Miss…" her eyes shot up to meet L's. Her breath hitched as she attempted to talk. "Are you, alright?" he asked with a curious gaze.

"Fine, you startled me is all, my name is Haruko, and you are?" she told him trying to make her voice a bit higher than normal and giving an uncertain gaze in attempts to keep her cover, though she was 90% certain he would see right through her.

"Hideki Ryuuga," L replied the curious look maintained on his face.

"Hey, is this guy bothering you?" Light asked from the other side of her. Reflexively her brow furrowed on hearing Light's voice but she quickly changed her expression to a gentle smile as she faced him.

"It's ok, I'm sorry I'm so bad with names, what was yours again?" Sakura asked.

"Light, Light Yagami. Sadly I have to say the same, your name was?" he replied with feigned embarrassment.

"Haruko Yoshida," she told him. "And this is Amanda Spencer." She pointed over to Asya. Asya's gaze lowered slightly but she caught what looked like L grinning slightly out of the corner of her eye.

"It's nice to see you two again. Hopefully we'll have some classes together," Light said. "Maybe we can all go for coffee sometime."

"I'd like that," L piped in to the conversation. Light gave him an uncertain look; there was something about this guy he didn't like. Who was this Hideki? He had the same name as that pop star but he sure didn't look anything like him…

"It's up to the ladies," Light said brushing off the comment, given that it would make the numbers even he was curious to see whether the two would accept his intrusion or not.

"I guess you could join us…" Sakura said with a shrug attempting to remain standoff-ish.

"Actually I'm free after this, so if you're not busy…" Light started and gave a slight nervous laugh. "I'm sorry; maybe I'm being too forward?"

"No, that sounds nice, we didn't have any plans either, how about you, Hideki?" Sakura said looking over. The smirk returned to L's face.

"That sounds delightful," L replied motioning for them to go ahead. Light led the way and as Asya and Sakura went to follow L grabbed Sakura's hand. "I'd love to have a chat with you, in private…" he whispered from behind her. Goose bumps ran the length of her spine at his words.

"Is everything okay?" Light asked turning back again to see those two lagging behind.

"We'll be just a minute, I forgot to get something back from the professor," Sakura said cheerfully waving him on.

"Alright, we'll wait outside for you then," Light replied with a nod. Sakura watched as he and Asya walked out and the doors closed behind them. Her pulse pounded in her ears, what would L say knowing she was here?

"You know, you seem so familiar," L said with an innocent look. He knew, but he wanted her to reveal herself. She looked different, her hair, her eye color, even her perfume had changed though to his slight amusement the scent of plumeria was replaced by her name sake sakura. But he could see through that. In spite of her trying to change her voice, her inflections and expressions were still the same. He knew the moment Light spoke that it was her. That aggravated furrowed brow that quickly vanished into that false smile couldn't be mistaken for anyone else.

"I suppose I just have that sort of face," she replied, that innocent look on L's face made her certain he knew, but this was a game. Would she actually divulge it?

"You smell just like _cherry blossoms_…" he spoke quietly. Her eyes narrowed on him, he was just further showing off his deduction was correct. She sighed, he would be able to keep this up all day and they didn't have time to waste with Light waiting right outside.

"Light's waiting, was there something you wanted to say to me?" she asked impatiently.

"There are quite a few things I would like to say. But it would seem that now is not the most opportune time for such a discussion… " he paused giving a contemplative look. "Then again, it may be the perfect time. Perhaps with time being of the essence I can get the truth."

"The truth of what _Hideki_?" she said placing emphasis on his cover name. He let a laugh escape his lips quietly. "Spit it out already or you might burst…" she complained in her normal voice. He gave a satisfied smile, it wasn't a complete admittance but it was acknowledgement of him being right.

"Oh nothing, I'm quite satisfied now. We really should get whatever it is that you used as an excuse to delay Light…" he told her.

She rolled her eyes slightly. Then the realization of what the candied ginger had been for flood to the forefront of her mind. She pursed her lips, this wasn't the time. She quickly turned and went up to the professor's desk grabbing the bag of candies and stuffing it into her over-sized purse. L stared at her a moment, he couldn't yet put his finger on what just happened but there was something more to what was going on than just her cover being revealed.

"Let's go," she said and went ahead of him. He shrugged to himself as he followed her, he would find out later what else was going on.

* * *

"I was worried you weren't coming back," Light joked with a wave seeing Sakura come out.

"Sorry, that professor is really strict; he was still lecturing me…" Sakura replied apologetically. Light couldn't help wondering why that guy stayed behind with her. Maybe he just liked this girl? Stranger yet was why this girl let him stick around.

"Well they're a top school so they're bound to be pretty strict," Light told her as they began their walk toward a local café. "What was so important about those candies anyhow?" Light looked curiously at her.

"They're just my favorite. It's hard to find them here in Japan," she told him.

"Oh, so you're exchange students then?" Light asked making a mental note to look her up later.

"That's right, so you wouldn't mind if I were to get in touch with you if there's somewhere I need to find locally?" Sakura asked sweetly.

"Of course I wouldn't mind at all, let's exchange numbers," he told her getting out his cell phone. Sakura nodded happily and got her phone out as well. She gave him her number and he texted her, then they added each other as contacts. "And you wouldn't mind if maybe I wanted to call you for dinner sometime?" Light asked with a gentle gaze.

Despite knowing this was all an act, and that Sakura was on to Light as much as he was, L couldn't help the sour look on his face as he listened to their exchange. Of course upon noticing that Light made certain to further close in on Sakura. They entered the café and got a quiet table, Light made certain to sit right next to Sakura giving a proud smirk to L.

"So, where did you two transfer from?" Light asked curiously leaning in slightly toward Sakura to display his interest.

"We're here from California," Sakura replied attempting to maintain pleasantries but really not wanting Light so close. Even his cologne was pretentious.

They ordered some snacks and tea as they continued to talk. Though it seemed Light did a majority of the talking. After a while he started to notice that Sakura seemed to be losing interest. So he decided to spice the conversation up a bit.

"So, being from the US, what's your impression of Kira?" Light asked nonchalantly as he sipped his tea. Her eyebrow raised and he could see he piqued her interest.

"I'm not afraid… I haven't done anything wrong so I don't have to worry about him," Sakura replied with a smile. Light returned the smile and then looked to the others.

"What about you two?" Light asked curiously.

"I don't know… I mean, sure there's less crime, but where does it stop? What will end up being a crime in the future? Are people going to be killed for jay walking eventually? I just think it's too much for one person to be the judge and jury. I know it's not popular, but I think Kira is wrong," Asya said.

"I agree with you Amanda," L said as he tossed a few sugar cubes into his tea.

They all spoke a bit more and Light tested the girls a bit to see if they'd been speaking the truth. Asking questions randomly about details they told him about themselves. No matter how he worded his questions the answers were about the same, just different enough to not be scripted but not so different that it was unnatural for them to say. He began to be more satisfied that they were just students, but this Hideki character still gave him an uneasy feeling.

"Well, I have to get going," Light said checking his watch. He had to research these three to see if there was anything more suspicious. "Hopefully I'll hear from you soon." He said placing a hand over Sakura's as he stood to leave. She gave a shy smile and nodded silently. They watched as he left and Sakura gave a little wave as he walked past the window outside and promptly slumped down into her chair with a heavy sigh once he was out of sight.

"My my Haruko, one would imagine you to be more excited about such a fellow being so taken with you," L said without looking over at her. Asya looked on and based on Sakura's face she confirmed that they had been made. He knew who they were.

"I think I'll let you two have a moment," Asya said as she went to stand.

"What's your hurry Ms. Spencer?" L asked looking up at her and slight betrayal made its way to his glance.

"I'm sorry, you couldn't understand…" she said as she went to leave.

"I understand better than you know, Ms. Spencer," he said quietly believing he had a good idea of what transpired and why she had to follow Sakura here, but there was one detail of her stress that he had yet to know.

"I'll be at the apartment Haruko," she said to Sakura. She gave L a doubtful look in reply to his remark and continued on her way.

* * *

"So, now that we have a moment to ourselves, what exactly is it that you're doing here?... I thought you promised to wait for me," he asked plainly, fighting he fact that he was glad to see her in spite of wanting her to stay away from this case.

"I wanted to help… And it would appear we're on the same track," she replied in reference to Light.

"It certainly seems as such. Though to be fair you had been stealing my information…" he gloated slightly. Apparently he had been right about his deduction of who sent Wedy after all.

"You're really kind of aggravating when you're so proud of yourself…" she told him but couldn't help the smile that made its way to her face.

L gave a small smile in return, but his thoughts were varied, what would he do going forward? Should he bring her back to the current investigation headquarters? He could keep a better eye on her that way, but what about her cover with Light? No, it was better that she didn't get too close to Light… That had very dangerous possibilities.

Then again, how would those NPA officers see it? He couldn't display any potential weakness to anyone. They had next to no time for their loved ones, why should he be so lucky? However, if there was no mention of the relationship between them she could simply be another one of his investigators on the case. Then to that end, what about Asya? It would be odd if she were to suddenly disappear. It might make Light suspicious of them.

"Hello? Earth to Hideki…" Sakura said waving a hand in front of his face as she watched him sitting lost in thought.

"Hmm?" he muttered gaining focus back on her and sighed slightly, he knew he wouldn't be satisfied with her being out of his sight.

"Is something wrong?" she asked frowning at his sigh. She wondered if she was ending up causing him more trouble than help at this point.

"What am I going to do with you Haruko Yoshida…" he asked as he tapped his spoon on his napkin. He'd already made up his mind but he wanted to know what she was thinking.

"Maybe I should go… I'm sure I've taken up enough of your time," she told him attempting to quickly gather her things. As much as she wanted to remain with him she began to think she would just be a distraction and she knew with this case he couldn't afford distractions.

"You're wrong," he replied and his head tilted slightly eyeing the bag of candied ginger and he quickly removed it from her purse. "I don't recall you caring for ginger…" he said curiously.

"What are you talking about I love ginger," she told him snatching the bag out of his hands.

"Pickled ginger, with your sushi, yes… But I have never seen you eat candied ginger…" he said looking at her as he took a piece from the bag she held and ate it. "I have heard ginger helps with nausea..." his own words caused him to start piecing together what she was holding back. He sat back attempting to take in this possibility, calculating the time from their last day together in England when they… It would be in line with the typical beginnings of, morning sickness…

"Nothing is certain yet… You shouldn't be distracted… That's why I should leave," she told him quietly with an apologetic look.

"No, that's exactly why you shouldn't go," he began but was interrupted when his cellphone began to ring. "Hello? Actually I do need a ride back. And I will have a guest… Yes, thank you." He placed his cell phone back in his pocket. "I can't…" he began but struggled to find the right words. There was so much running through his mind he couldn't get it all to be a coherent thought. "We're going now," he told her as he noticed Watari's car pull up in front of the café. Sakura eyed him with slight confusion. He repeated his statement with some authority and took her hand leading her out to the car.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** _Hello all, so I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Thanks to Minao Tskino for the review. \(^_^)/  
_

**January 17, 2004**

"What a pleasant _surprise_ to see you again my girl," Watari said as Sakura made her way into the car. She couldn't help lowering her glance at his emphasis on the word surprise. "Are there any other stops that we will need to make?"

"Yes, there's an apartment we need to go to," L began looking over to Sakura and waiting for her to tell the address. She told them the address and Watari simply nodded in reply and the privacy glass in the limo went up to give him and Sakura a moment of sequestration.

"I didn't mean to cause you any trouble…" Sakura said her eyes down absently staring at her hand in her lap.

"You haven't," he began a put a hand over hers. He paused a moment as he gathered his thoughts. There were some things he needed definitive answers to, especially whether or not she was indeed pregnant. But how could he go about telling her he needed a solid answer, the day had already most likely been emotionally taxing for her and to put more pressure on her didn't seem right. He needed a plan though, either way, to keep her as safe as possible, and knowing all the details would help him ensure his planning would work. "I need you to do something for me."

"Of course, is it about the case?" she asked as she looked over at him. He shook his head and turned more toward her.

"We need to find out without any doubt if you are pregnant," he told her. She gave an agreeing nod. "Either way it will be better than the uncertainty I imagine we are both feeling at this time." She took a deep breath looking over at it and he could almost see what seemed like guilt in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"You shouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing at a time like this…" she said as her lips turned down into a frown. "Maybe I should just…"

"Don't dare say that," he said stopping her mid-sentence as he took her firmly by both her shoulders. "I will solve this case; this world will be safe for our child, if that comes to pass... I don't intend to live in fear while this case is ongoing and I hope you can do the same."

"But won't this just be incon…" she began again and he stopped her from finishing her sentence yet again.

"I hope you don't actually believe that. Nothing involving us could inconvenience me. Though honestly before we get so wrapped up in such thoughts we should verify the truth, it's not going to be any use worrying and wondering about something that is not yet confirmed," he told her despite being about 85% certain that she was with child.

"Alright, I'll pick something up at one of the pharmacies tomorrow," she told him. As luck would have it at this moment the car stopped in front of the apartment complex. Sakura got out of the car and went in to get Asya.

* * *

"I was beginning to get worried," Asya said when she heard Sakura come in.

"There's been a change of plans it seems…" Sakura told her hesitantly. "Now, I'm not saying you have to come… But…"

"I take it he wants to move you to his location?" Asya asked. Her job was done then… Her promise kept to the best of her abilities. They wouldn't need her any longer.

"Yeah, and if you want, we'd like you to come too," Sakura said.

"Why? To keep our cover intact with Light?" Asya questioned.

"No… I thought we were friends… Honestly, I'm scared Asya… I don't know what will come to pass from here on, but I'd like you to be with us," Sakura confided. Asya looked on with some surprise. It wasn't really like Sakura to openly admit fear.

"Alright, I'll go with you. I'm sure everything will be fine," Asya told her attempting to bolster Sakura's confidence.

"That's sweet but you're an awful liar… You're worried too, aren't you?" Sakura said as she went to grab a few things before they left.

"True, but if we stick together we've got a better chance of making it through, don't we?" Asya replied as she took one of the bags Sakura was carrying. Sakura simply nodded and they headed out to the car.

* * *

"Anybody else think it's weird that they're not answering the door?" Mogi asked as he knocked again at the hotel room their investigation had been run from recently.

"What should we do Chief?" Aizawa asked with some suspicion clear in his voice. He hadn't been certain of L but he would follow the Chief to hell and back, as he trusted the man with his life.

"Maybe they went out for donuts?" Matsuda said trying to lighten the mood.

"This is no time for joking Matsuda," Soichiro chastised, to which Matsuda once again found himself hanging his head in embarrassment. "We should leave; it will attract too much attention with all of us standing in this hallway. He'll call us when he returns I'm sure."

The others agreed and they turned to leave. They stood waiting for the elevator and as the doors opened they couldn't help their surprised looks. There were many questions running through their heads, namely who were the two women with L.

"Ryuzaaki, I trust you have an explanation for being late," Soichiro said firmly with a look of disapproval.

"Of course, but this isn't the place for such a conversation," L replied plainly and went to walk past them all. Soichiro pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation.

"You'll get used to it," Sakura said as she walked past him following L. They all went into the suite and the questioning glances didn't end once they were there. The introductions began around the room, the tension lessened slight but Soichiro had been waiting to ask what exactly Sakura meant by her statement.

"Now, as to the latest leads," L began as he picked up a piece of paper in one hand and a piece of cake in the other.

"Wait a minute. We can't just go into this yet," Aizawa protested. "You can't just introduce new people into this team without so much as a why or what they are going to do."

"It does seem a bit odd to suddenly bring these two young ladies into this case," Soichiro remarked.

"They are very capable detectives, just as much as I am," L replied impatiently as he set down the paper. "Is the problem their capabilities or the fact that they're women?" L asked curiously.

"Of course that's not the reason; we don't care if they're women. I think we just want to know, no, we have the right to know, why at this point you decided to bring these two in. If you can't give a reasonable answer to such a simple question then I don't know what we're doing here," Aizawa told him in a rigid voice.

"It really is strange as The Chief said. I mean, you were extremely persistent on the fact that everything we do we keep amongst this group, what's changed?" Ukita asked, though his tone didn't contain the same temper of Aizawa's.

"Some things just need a ladies touch," Sakura interjected. "After all if you do get a good lead just who do you think could get close to a target?" They all, to include L, looked at her with surprise.

"You don't honestly think that you can charm your way into having someone tell you they are Kira, do you?" Soichiro asked somewhere between concern and disbelief.

"The best thing is that people don't even have to tell me word for word… Take you for instance; you've got a daughter, haven't you? Probably teenage, a bit younger than myself?" Sakura asked with a curious smirk.

"Did he tell you that?" Soichiro asked giving a dark glare to L.

"No no, of course not… I know people though. That's my skill. So let's just work together alright?" Sakura told him.

"Hey, what can you tell about me?" Matsuda asked curiously. A chorus of sighs came from the rest of the team.

"Honestly?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Matsuda nodded waiting like a puppy for a treat. Sakura sighed giving a sympathetic look. "You mean well but you're so nervous about confrontation that you end up seeming childish." Matsuda looked disappointed with the results of his question. "I wouldn't be so upset; I bet you're really a fun guy to hang out with."

"Thanks…" he said giving a small smile.

"Okay, I think that's enough fortune telling," Aizawa said shaking his head.

"Indeed it is… Can we get to work now, or do you care to waste more time?" L replied looking thoroughly unenthused.

"Somebody's grumpy this evening…" Sakura mumbled under her breath as she grabbed a random file and got a sideways glance from a couple of the detectives. "I'm going to go make some tea, anyone want anything?" They all declined the offer and L began handing out assignments on files for the team to review then promptly followed Sakura to the kitchen. She got the kettle from the stove and went to fill it with water looking over at L waiting for him to say whatever it was he needed to get out.

"You can't be so…you here…" he said quietly.

"Not be me? How's that supposed to work?" she asked as she turned off the water and put the kettle back on the stove turning the burner on and scooted herself onto the counter while she waited.

"They can't know, about us… There's a certain, expectation on how people interact with me," L told her maintaining a lowered tone. Sakura's look went between curious and mischievous as she slid herself from the counter and walked up to him she stood right in front of him just looking at him saying nothing so close he could feel the heat from her. "Sakura, please… I…" His jaw tightening slightly as he tried to resist reaching out for her.

"You know they'll find out, especially if…" she couldn't get the rest of the sentence to pass her lips.

"I know that… If they find this out now though…" he started and took her hands in his keeping them low. "You know I love you Sakura… But the relationship with the NPA is still strained with everything from the FBI to the surveillance we've done on them personally here… So I need our personal life to stay just that, personal…"

Suddenly, they heard someone clearing their throat from just outside the kitchen. Sakura's eyes shot up to meet the steel gaze of Chief Yagami. Her mouth was slightly open but she couldn't get a word to come out. Her eyes spoke volumes, pleading and apologetic. Soichiro took a deep breath and continued into the room.

"I had second thoughts on your offer for a cup of tea," he told her and his features began to become less tense. Sakura wanted to ask how long he had been standing there, would he tell the others. The kettle began to whistle as Sakura sat stuck in her fear that she had just ruined all the work that L had put forth with the NPA. "It's not my place, as long as you two can still do your job I don't really care what you do in private…" he said. She couldn't help instinctively bowing in appreciation of his words. "That's enough now, the noise of that kettle is going to get the others curious…" he cautioned.

"Thank you," she replied quietly as she went to take the kettle off the heat. Her hand shook a bit as she searched the cupboard for the tea leaves.

"You don't seem the type to get shaken up so easily," Soichiro commented.

"Yeah, it is a bit odd for me," she replied with a quiet laugh. "There are just some things, or… Some people that matter more than you can control…"

"That's true. Actually, this discovery puts me a bit at ease, you are human after all Ryuzaaki," Soichiro told him with a bit of a laugh.

"There was doubt?" L asked trying not to seem offended. Sakura smirked and stifled a laugh as she handed Soichiro one of the cups of tea, then gave another to L. "I too must thank you for your discretion on this matter, Chief Yagami. I'm certain this knowledge may come out to the group eventually but for now we all need to focus our concentration on the case."

"Just be careful Ryuzaaki… Lies quickly become a slippery slope," Soichiro forewarned.

"We should get back," L said nodding his understanding to the chief's comment. They all went back into the room together. Asya gave a questioning glance to Sakura who waved her hand low motioning that nothing was wrong. Aizawa discretely kept watch on their interaction and decided to wait for the right moment to have a word with Sakura.

They all worked rather quietly that night. Reviewing new files from leads L gathered via internet posting. Their next avenue of interest to find Kira was to see who talked about him the most and find out if there was anyone that seemed like they might have a direct connection to Kira himself.

"There are so many files… How are we ever going to get through all of it?" Matsuda said aloud as he kept thumbing through the papers he had.

"What did you expect? The internet is a vast global network; it's bound to be a major undertaking," Ukita told him his patience wearing thin as the night went on.

"Maybe we should break for the evening?" Sakura asked as this was probably the third round of poor Matsuda getting berated and seeing that the time was nearing three in the morning and she herself could use some sleep.

"That would probably be best. We'll pick this up again tomorrow," Soichiro advised. With his word the team agreed and began rising from their chairs. After getting their jackets they all began to leave.

"Could I have a word with you," Aizawa asked Sakura quietly. He had been watching her for most of the evening and had a few concerning questions. Sakura looked at him with confusion but nodded for him to go ahead. "Not here, let's talk outside…"

"Okay…" she replied hesitantly as she followed him into the hall.

"How far along are you?" he asked without looking at her. Shock washed over her, how did he know? Had Chief Yagami told him at some point? To that end did he know about her and L?

"What do you mean?" she questioned in reply watching his features to see how certain he was about what he thought.

"You've been subconsciously rubbing your lower abdomen all night, my wife used to do the same thing… I don't see how L would willingly put a woman in your situation into this case…" Aizawa told her. She calmed a bit, he didn't seem to know about them.

"I hadn't actually gotten the test yet to see if I am, but if I had to guess, a little over a month," she confided.

"Are you getting sick at all?" he asked finally looking at her.

"The past couple days, yeah…" she told him. He sighed a bit shaking his head.

"So the test is pretty much just your reality check, you know it's true already…" he began and something like pity lay in his eyes. "I can't believe that L would take a woman from her family just to work a case. You shouldn't be involved with this Kira investigation in your situation."

"I'm fine Mr. Aizawa. We all have our jobs to do. So don't worry about me, okay?" she requested. "Besides, I'm sure we'll wrap this up long before this little one comes along." She told him with a smile as she rubbed her belly.

"Just be careful, I don't know you or anything, but this case isn't something to be taken lightly," Aizawa told her and went to leave without saying anything further.

"Wait, Mr. Aizawa," Sakura called out and he glanced back. "Please, can you keep this between us? No one else knows and I'd like it to stay that way…" He simply nodded and continued on. After he got on to the elevator she leaned back against the wall in the hall way breathing a heavy sigh. "You're not very good at staying a secret are you?" she asked aloud as she looked down at her belly.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **_Not much to say, hopefully you're all still liking the story. We've got some interesting twists coming up! (^_^)/_

**January 22, 2004**

"Watari, I need to speak with you about something," L said without looking up from his papers. Sakura was sleeping, Asya was out getting a few things that Sakura had asked her to pick up at the grocer and the NPA detectives had not yet arrived at the hotel.

"Of course," Watari replied as he came to L's side waiting for him to continue. L hadn't yet had a chance to tell Watari about Sakura with how busy they had been staying with the case.

"I believe that in the continuation of this case we will need a real headquarters, something more than these hotel rooms…" L began as he set down the stack of papers he had and sat back slightly in his chair resting his forearms on his knees.

"Just for the case?" Watari enquired with a gentle gaze as he waited for L to explain further.

"It would provide us more security and we wouldn't have to keep telling the NPA gentlemen to go to different hotels. And it would be nice to sleep in the same bed for more than a few night," L replied. Watari gave a curious glance, L rarely slept, and even more rarely did he make it to a bed to sleep.

"And that's all?" Watari said coaxing him a bit more. Watari was already certain of Sakura's pregnancy even though she attempted to feign that she had the flu or food poisoning to him since she had been staying at the hotel with them. It was all too clear in how L doted upon her when no one was around to see it.

"No, that's not all," L replied with a sigh. He could tell Watari knew and he was also never much good at keeping anything from him. "Sakura will need a stable place to be, as her pregnancy progresses…"

"That she will, my boy," Watari said with a smile. "I had been thinking about that too the past couple of days and I took the liberty of drawing a few architectural designs. I have them in the back bedroom closet. You and Sakura should look over them, whichever design you decide I will have a contractor get to work on immediately."

"Thank you Watari," L replied quietly.

"And if there is anything else you would like to talk about, you do know you can come to me," Watari told him, though he knew that L would talk in his own time, if he wished to. L simply nodded and returned to his work.

* * *

"So there was nothing unusual about those girls after all huh?" Ryuk asked as Light tossed him an apple.

"It was just like they said; everything in the online profiles that I could find came up normal. Or at least fairly normal… There did seem to be some spans of time that were missing though," Light replied as he went to get his phone.

"Who are you calling?" Ryuk questioned as he chomped down the last of the apple core.

"Well it never hurts to be thorough… I'll call Haruko and set up a date. If she's not part of the Kira Task Force, then based on what she's said she is a supporter of Kira. And perhaps she could be useful later on… If nothing else, she'll provide me a bit of entertainment," Light told him with a smirk. Ryuk gave a slightly surprised look but then began laughing.

"Humans are so interesting…" Ryuk muttered to himself as Light scrolled through his phone and called Sakura.

"Hi, it's Light. Yeah from To-Oh. Are you busy tonight? I was just thinking, have you ever tried Kaiseki? No? Well I know a really nice place, if you wanted to go. Great! So, why don't we meet at Shinjuku Station around six and we'll be able to walk to the restaurant from there. Okay, I look forward to seeing you." Light hung up and laughed to himself. "Well, I guess since I have a bit of time I can do some writing while I wait…" he got the Death Note out of his desk drawer and turned the TV on to the news channel.

* * *

"Asya, Asya, Asya!" Sakura called out running around the suite with her phone.

"What's wrong?" Asya asked with a concerned look as she rounded the corner from one of the rooms.

"I got a call…" Sakura replied as she showed her phone to Asya pointing to the caller's name.

"You're not seriously still pursuing that, are you? They cleared him when they did their surveillance here," Asya said quietly as she pulled her into another room.

"If he's cleared then it's just friends going to dinner," Sakura said nonchalantly.

"Who's going to dinner?" L asked seeming to have materialized out of thin air in the hall between the bedrooms.

"Asya and I?" Sakura replied with a meek smile.

"Is that a question or an answer?" L asked in a despondent tone.

"Yes…" Sakura said and went to go to their bedroom and get a new outfit.

"So you were yelling her name throughout the entire suite to invite her to dinner?" L questioned; his disbelief was clear in his voice.

"I get excited about food sometimes, what can I say?" Sakura replied as she threw a dress on the bed. L raised an eyebrow at her attire choice. "What?"

"This must be quite the dinner you two are going to… It's rather rare to get you into a dress…" L said as he snatched it off the bed examining it. "Isn't it a bit cold out for that at any rate?

"Well a girl likes to look nice now and then, and besides I'll be wearing a jacket, I didn't realize I had to have wardrobe approval," Sakura retorted attempting to take the dress back from him.

"I hadn't said I disapproved, as if that would stop you at any rate… I'm simply saying it's not exactly the season for this," L replied still keeping the dress out of her reach. "The truth and you can have it back." He told her attempting to bargain.

"You won't like the truth…" she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh I'm sure I won't, but that doesn't mean I don't want to know what it is," he said as he draped the dress over his shoulder still waiting.

"Light called me; he wanted to go to dinner. I figured it's a good chance to do a bit of observation," she finally confessed and went to take the dress per their deal. L kept his hold on it yet.

"Light? As in, Yagami?" L questioned. "You actually think you ought to go to dinner with him, by yourself?" Sakura couldn't tell if he was concerned about Light possibly being Kira or jealous that she might go to dinner with Light.

"I'll go with her," Asya said, hoping this dinner would get the thoughts of Light being Kira out of Sakura's system once and for all.

"And how do you purpose to get yourself invited to this _romantic_ dinner for two?" L asked bitingly.

"Oh, wait a minute; you're not jealous, are you?" Sakura questioned with a curious gaze.

"Jealous no, concerned, yes," he replied without looking at her.

"Then look me in the eye and tell me you're not jealous," she challenged.

"Can we have a moment Asya?" L asked in an unusually polite tone. Asya gave Sakura an uneasy look and backed out of the room. L closed the door and turned looking at Sakura, just staring at her for a while, why on earth would he be jealous? She was carrying his child after all… One doesn't get much more committed to another person than that. He let out a heavy sigh. "I just think this is a dangerous move. I know we both still suspect him, but I don't think you should get too close to him."

"I already accepted his invitation," Sakura told him as she took the dress from him.

He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his mouth, attempted to start talking but he couldn't quite get the right words out then he ran his hand over his mouth again. "Do I need to give you a list of the multitude of reasons that this is a terrible idea?" he asked finally.

"Please do…" she replied plainly as she began getting changed.

"Where do I start? One, you're pregnant, with my child, he's bound to notice at the very least that you are pregnant eventually, and the best scenario would be he loses interest, at worst if he finds out we're together he might harm you to get to me. Two, he's the son of one of the NPA detectives we work with, said detective knows about us, you do realize how betrayed Chief Yagami would feel if you played his son, don't you? And in turn how that would demolish trust from the NPA. Shall I go on?" he told her hoping there would be a way to get her out of this without raising Light's suspicions.

"Well then maybe I should steer his interest another way. He seems the type to enjoy a challenge and Asya flat out told him she thinks Kira is wrong, so…" Sakura began and L shook his head.

"Let's say he takes interest, generally one eventually wishes to indulge in physical contact, which she is not fond of," L said then got a pondering look. "But then we would know… Without a doubt…"

"I know…" Sakura replied, but felt a bit ashamed of herself for wanting Asya to find the truth in that way. The door opened and Asya entered the room.

"I'll do it," Asya told them. Sakura looked at her apologetically. "Maybe then you two can finally get over him."

* * *

Light sat on a bench at the train station waiting for Sakura to arrive. He looked at his watch it was five minutes until six o'clock. He glanced around watching people going about their daily lives and felt a moment of pride when he heard a child say that thanks to Kira he didn't have to worry about school bullies on his train ride home. Light's gaze scanned further in the crowd and his eyes narrowed on two women. _She brought her friend? Doesn't she get what a date is?_ Light thought to himself with a sigh. Then he looked closer, something seemed off, Amanda looked rather sad. This would be inconvenient.

"Hey… I know I probably should have called you, but Amanda was really upset so I thought maybe if we all went out it might help cheer her up," Sakura told him in an apologetic tone.

"I hope everything is alright," Light replied giving a sympathetic look to Asya.

"I suppose it will be… Eventually," Asya said still putting on that depressed gaze.

"What happened, if you don't mind my asking?" Light questioned feigning concern.

"Shinji and I…" Asya started as she spoke of the fake boyfriend she mentioned in their first encounter and worked up a few tears for effect. "We broke up…"

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that…" Light told her. He had to fight the unenthused sigh that he wanted to make at her display of emotion. "Well maybe getting out and having a nice dinner will help take your mind off things. Shall we?" The two nodded and walked with Light to the restaurant.

He apparently planned to spare no expense. The restaurant looked like a treasure hidden amidst the bustle of the city. An iron gate seemed to be guarding against the passage of time. When they entered the property the followed a stone path to a small wooden walking bridge that went over a stream gently flowing that koi fish flittered about in. The doors to the restaurant were ornate carved wood that shown in the light of the setting sun. Upon entering it was like stepping into the past, the long hall had various shoji screens leading to dining rooms on either side and they were greeted formally by a woman in a traditional kimono. She led them to one of the rooms and handed them each a hot towel to cleanse their hands with after which she quietly left to get them drinks to start of their dinner.

"This place is gorgeous," Asya marveled as she looked around at the artwork displayed on the walls. "I feel really guilty about barging in on your plans now…"

"Don't worry so much," Light told her as he reached out placing a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. Asya braced for the flood of memories, but nothing came. Light noticed the pensive look on her face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" Asya stopped him and smiled.

"No, it's fine… Really, you're so kind," she said and the smile couldn't seem to remove itself from her face. What did it mean? It was refreshing to not have that surge of thoughts come in to her mind. Light gazed curiously at her, _just this grazing touch made her so happy, she might be more manipulable than the other one, _Light thought to himself.

Sakura had to hide her confusion at the sharp shift of the atmosphere in the room. She quickly became the third wheel as Light and Asya got to know each other. She couldn't believe Light was apparently innocent… The enamored look in Asya's eyes as she spoke with Light wasn't pretend. She wanted to know what Asya saw but she had never seen Asya look as happy as she was that night and Sakura couldn't bring herself to interrupt.

As the night wound down and they went to leave Light took Sakura to the side, "Sorry about how the night went, I know it was supposed to be you and me but…" he began fighting to hide the smirk at the hopes they might fight over him.

"It's alright, you two seem to be a good fit…" Sakura told him but gave a small sigh letting him think he was that important. "I guess it's time to go Amanda."

"Actually Light invited me to a movie, so I'll be home later on," Asya replied still beaming. Sakura couldn't help the confused look that came to her face. When had that happened? She never heard them say anything about it.

"Sorry Haruko, I asked her when you were in the restroom… I didn't want this to get awkward… I'm really sorry," Light said apologetically.

"Oh… I see…" Sakura replied as she put on an act of dejection. "Well, you two have fun then." Sakura really didn't like the idea of leaving Asya alone with him, but she also couldn't get over how much Asya seemed to genuinely like Light. Maybe she really was wrong about him being Kira after all.


End file.
